# Are There Any Useless Elements? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 13, 2019, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494 "2019-02-13T20:08:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2019, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494/1 "2019-02-13T20:08:52Z")
Are there any elements for which we have no use? Even the non-reactive noble gasses can be used in lighting elements. ---
**Author:** ![Bert\_Nobbins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@Bert\_Nobbins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bert_Nobbins)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2019, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494/2 "2019-02-13T20:26:36Z")
According to Tim James in his book Elemental, dysprosium appears to be useless. While you can use it for lots of things (eg lasers) apparently you can always find another element that does that thing better. However Wikipedia does not entirely agree [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysprosium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysprosium) About 100 tons are produced each year so some people want it. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2019, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494/3 "2019-02-13T20:28:13Z")
There are plenty of unstable elements. What are you going to do with Fermium or Francium? ETA [ > [@](#): > > Dysprosium’s main use is in permanent magnets. It is used as an alloying addition to neodymium based magnets due to its resistance to demagnetization at elevated temperatures. This property is important for magnets used in motors or generators. Due to the use of these magnets in wind turbines and electrical vehicles, demand for dysprosium is growing rapidly. A dysprosium oxide-nickel cement is used to in nuclear reactor control rods, and has the property of absorbing neutrons readily without swelling or contracting under prolonged neutron bombardment. ]([Dysprosium Oxide, Dysprosium Metal](https://www.ssnano.com/dysprosium_oxide__dysprosium_metal)) ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2019, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494/4 "2019-02-13T20:38:33Z")
I was always under the impression by itself Neptunium is useless but is used to make Plutonium, so it’s both incredibly useless but also incredibly useful. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494/5 "2019-02-13T21:45:16Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > There are plenty of unstable elements. What are you going to do with Fermium or Francium? Some unstable elements are used _because_ of their radioactivity. Americium is used in smoke detectors and several (including californium and technetium) are used in nuclear medicine. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2019, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494/6 "2019-02-13T22:10:02Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > There are plenty of unstable elements. What are you going to do with Fermium or Francium? Sure, you say that now, but what are you going to do when you need to create the universe again? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494/7 "2019-02-14T00:34:32Z")
There’s yttrium, ytterbium, praseodymium and promethium, and niobium, iridium, mendelevium, einsteinium, nobelium, There’s strontium and holmium and hafnium and erbium, and francium and dysprosium and scandium and terbium, These are the only ones of which the news has come to Dopers And there may be many others but they haven’t been discovered. (after Tom Lehrer) ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494/8 "2019-02-14T00:44:17Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > These are the only ones of which the news has come to Dopers > And there may be many others but they haven’t been discovered. > > (after Tom Lehrer) Since the original rhymed “Hahvahd” with “discahvahd,” shouldn’t this rhyme “Dopers” with “discopered”? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494/9 "2019-02-14T00:56:24Z")
Sure, you can use californium or something in nuclear medicine, but there’s no way you’re going to pull that off with copenicium or meitnerium. The only use for those is to honor someone you like with the name, or to show those damn \ who’s boss by beating them to synthesizing it. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494/10 "2019-02-14T12:53:18Z")
I’m intrigued how many elements are essential for human life. For example, the human body contains only about 5 micrograms of molybdenum, and about 12 micrograms of manganese — tiny “trace” amounts, yet each is a key part of multiple human enzymes! Molybdenum, at about 1 ppm, is way down in the #54 slot of the crust’s most common elements, yet is an essential constituent of both the human enzyme [xanthine oxidase](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xanthine_oxidase) and [sulfite oxidase](Sulfite oxidase), which is found in all mitochondria. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494/11 "2019-02-14T13:36:23Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Some unstable elements are used _because_ of their radioactivity. Americium is used in smoke detectors and several (including californium and technetium) are used in nuclear medicine. But Francium’s half-life is a mere 22 minutes. There’s conceivably some weird use for it, I suppose, but it’s difficult to keep in stock. And , although there are other lasers that can, I suppose, do what dysprosium does, dysprosium, like neodymium, is pretty efficient. And the new tunable dysprosium laser hits wavelengths that can be covered by color center lasers, but dysprosium is a LOT easier to handle and maintain. I doubt if there is a “useless” element. Each element has unique properties. The Shakers believed (still believe, actually, although there are fewer of them now) that everything was created by God for a purpose, and went out of their way to find uses for even apparently “useless” plants. Shaker chemists and physicists would definitely look for uses even for Francium. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494/12 "2019-02-14T13:57:02Z")
I’d argue that any named are just elements whose uses have yet to be discovered. Right? ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494/13 "2019-02-14T18:54:58Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’d argue that any named are just elements whose uses have yet to be discovered. Right? I would have thought astatine as being basically useless and unusable, as its most stable isotope has a half life of eight hours and it is so radioactive that no one knows what a pure sample looks like, but research is being done on its medical uses > **[Astatine | Uses and precautions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astatine#Uses_and_precautions)** > > Newly formed astatine-211 is the subject of ongoing research in nuclear medicine. It must be used quickly as it decays with a half-life of 7.2 hours; this is long enough to permit multistep labeling strategies. Astatine-211 has potential for targeted alpha-particle therapy, since it decays either via emission of an alpha particle (to bismuth-207), or via electron capture (to an extremely short-lived nuclide, polonium-211, which undergoes further alpha decay), very quickly reaching its s The princ... So maybe you are right ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494/14 "2019-02-14T19:11:38Z")
The larger elements require a ridiculous amount of energy to make and have millisecond half lives right? Other than the nobel for making it you can’t use a few atoms that won’t survive the time it takes to flush a toilet. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494/15 "2019-02-14T19:16:33Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > The larger elements require a ridiculous amount of energy to make and have millisecond half lives right? Other than the nobel for making it you can’t use a few atoms that won’t survive the time it takes to flush a toilet. Today. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494/16 "2019-02-14T22:24:23Z")
“What has Dysprosium ever done for us?” “Magnets.” “What?” “Well, it’s made magnets more resistance to higher temperature.” “Oh. Yeah, yeah. It does give us that. Uh, that’s true. Yeah.” “Dosimeters for measuring ionizing radiation.” “Oh, yeah, the dosimeters, Reg. Remember what the radiation lab used to be like?” “Yeah. All right. I’ll grant you the magnets and the dosimeters are two things that Dysprosium has done.” “And expansion resistant reactor core rods.” "Well, yeah. Obviously the rods. I mean, the rods go without saying, don’t they? But apart from the magnets, the dosimeters, and the rods-- " “Nanofibers.” “Paramagnetic crystal salts.” … ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494/17 "2019-02-14T22:34:28Z")
_Dysprosii eunt domo!_ ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494/18 "2019-02-14T22:39:00Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > I would have thought astatine as being basically useless and unusable, as its most stable isotope has a half life of eight hours and it is so radioactive that no one knows what a pure sample looks like, but research is being done on its medical uses > > [Astatine - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astatine#Uses_and_precautions) > > So maybe you are right I read somewhere that astatine is so radioactive that any amount large enough to see with the naked eye will vaporize itself. It is also insanely rare. I have heard that there is maybe 30 grams of it in the entire planet at any given time and only [0.05 micrograms (0.00000005 grams) has ever been produced in a lab by anyone.](https://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele085.html) So yeah…I’d say it is pretty useless since no one has used it for anything that I am aware of (except to study it). ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494/19 "2019-02-14T22:51:53Z")
See [The Disappearing Spoon Flash Cards](https://quizlet.com/87526229/the-disappearing-spoon-flash-cards/) Here is the listing for promethium: -last element in periodic to be found -element 61 -useless ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494/20 "2019-02-14T23:01:27Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > See [The Disappearing Spoon Flash Cards](https://quizlet.com/87526229/the-disappearing-spoon-flash-cards/) > Here is the listing for promethium: > > -last element in periodic to be found > -element 61 > -useless [Glowing promethium paint](http://theodoregray.com/PeriodicTableDisplay/Elements/061/index.s6.html) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-useless-elements/829494.md?page=2)