# How many pounds of each atom in a car? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 7, 2020, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pounds-of-each-atom-in-a-car/924945 "2020-11-07T02:15:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hellestal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hellestal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hellestal)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pounds-of-each-atom-in-a-car/924945/1 "2020-11-07T02:15:44Z")
A typical car weighs nearly 3000 pounds. I’m curious about the breakdown of how that weight could be divided among the atoms that make up the car. There would be silicon and oxygen for the glass (with additional atoms of carbon and hydrogen for safety), iron for the steel, etc. Some vehicles are now aluminum-bodied. So how many pounds of iron? Of oxygen? I don’t particularly care which car, and no need for any extensive effort for a comprehensive list. But I would be curious about the most common atoms that make up the largest percentage of the weight before we get to the misc extras. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pounds-of-each-atom-in-a-car/924945/2 "2020-11-07T02:46:45Z")
According to [this dated link](https://www.etf.com/sections/features-and-news/1289-cars-and-metal-metal-and-cars?nopaging=1) about 55% of a car’s weight is iron, 8% is aluminum. The other big metals would be copper and lead. As battery technology changes the numbers will change dramatically. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pounds-of-each-atom-in-a-car/924945/3 "2020-11-07T16:43:14Z")
I found this quote: “On average an automobile is 47% steel, 8% iron, 8% plastic, 7% aluminum, and 3% glass.” The iron will have 2% carbon and 1% Si. The steel will be 99% Fe, and carbon and Mn. 6061 aluminum is about 97% Al, 1% Mg, ,8% Si, .7% Fe, .25% Cr and Cu, .2% Zi, Ti and Mn. Windshield glass is 70% silica sand (SiO2), soda ash (Na2 CO3), dolomite ((CaMg)(CO3)2) and limestone (CaCO3). ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pounds-of-each-atom-in-a-car/924945/4 "2020-11-09T11:16:39Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > The iron will have 2% carbon and 1% Si. The steel will be 99% Fe, and carbon and Mn. 6061 aluminum is about 97% Al, 1% Mg, ,8% Si, .7% Fe, .25% Cr and Cu, .2% Zi, Ti and Mn. Windshield glass is 70% silica sand (SiO2), soda ash (Na2 CO3), dolomite ((CaMg)(CO3)2) and limestone (CaCO3). Adding to this list, plastics are roughly two hydrogen atoms per carbon atom - so by weight, about 14% hydrogen, and 86% carbon. ---
**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:** [November 9, 2020, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pounds-of-each-atom-in-a-car/924945/5 "2020-11-09T13:53:04Z")
Most plastics will also contain a non-negligible amount of oxygen, and possibly other elements. Polycarbonate, for instance, has an empirical formula of C16H18O5 , and PVC is C2H3Cl . ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pounds-of-each-atom-in-a-car/924945/6 "2020-11-09T14:06:28Z")
A car battery weighs roughly 40-50 lbs, right? I imagine the bulk of that would be lead. The battery pack of a Tesla S weighs 1200 lbs. How much of that is Lithium and what other elements are in a battery pack like that? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pounds-of-each-atom-in-a-car/924945/7 "2020-11-10T01:36:59Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > The battery pack of a Tesla S weighs 1200 lbs. How much of that is Lithium and what other elements are in a battery pack like that? Here’s a somewhat dated (4 years ago) page on the composition of different Li-ion batteries: > **[Breakdown of raw materials in Tesla's batteries and possible bottlenecks](https://electrek.co/2016/11/01/breakdown-raw-materials-tesla-batteries-possible-bottleneck/)** > > Because of its name, lithium-ion (li-ion), people think that li-ion batteries are primarily made of lithium and that if we... That page says the Model S has an NCA – Nickel-Colbalt-Aluminum battery. I don’t know if they still use that kind of battery in the Model S. The US-made Model 3’s have an NMC – Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt battery while the Model 3’s made in China have an LFP – Lithium Iron Phosphate battery, which that page doesn’t even mention. That page is mostly about the cathode. Li-ion batteries usually have a graphite anode which also may contain silicon.