# least useful chemical element **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 2, 2006, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078 "2006-05-02T08:14:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078/41 "2006-05-03T15:20:19Z")
[Holmium](http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele067.html) seems to be right up in “snooze button on a smoke alarm” territory as far as usefulness goes. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078/42 "2006-05-03T15:40:41Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > [Holmium](http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele067.html) seems to be right up in “snooze button on a smoke alarm” territory as far as usefulness goes. But without [Holmium Oxide Filters](http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/processing/h243/h2403ulm0001.shtml) it would be harder to calibrate UV-vis spectrophotometers! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078/43 "2006-05-03T17:02:00Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Sorry, I’m an idiot and realized it in the shower. Of course. OsO4 creates the epoxide and then it’s popped open making the vicinal diol. It’s early and I was thinking of periodic acid. Yes, what a drooling idiot you are! How could you forget that? (Says me, who has forgotten pretty much every scrap of organic chemistry knowledge from college.) ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078/44 "2006-05-03T17:28:08Z")
> [@Neidhart](#): > > Scandium (21) seems to exist only to take up space in the periodic table. Only 20 kg of scandium are used in the US yearly. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078/45 "2006-05-03T18:47:49Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Sorry, I’m an idiot and realized it in the shower. Of course. OsO4 creates the epoxide and then it’s popped open making the vicinal diol. It’s early and I was thinking of periodic acid. …can I really use epoxide to describe that intermediate? Or is wikipedia’s mechanism wrong? (Thanks for bringing it up… I had never thought about the mechanism.) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078/46 "2006-05-03T19:15:51Z")
Bushchenium seems to be particularly useless, and both common and highly toxic. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078/47 "2006-05-03T20:44:44Z")
> [@chaoticbear](#): > > …can I really use epoxide to describe that intermediate? Or is wikipedia’s mechanism wrong? (Thanks for bringing it up… I had never thought about the mechanism.) I think wikipedia is right and that’s definitely not an epoxide. However, that mechanism is probably why I was thinking of an ozonolysis-type reaction. But you can kinda see the similarities between it, ozone, and peroxide epoxidations. Europium complexes can be used to change chemical shifts for proton NMR. Francium would have to be up there in terms of uselessness as well. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2006, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078/48 "2006-05-03T21:02:26Z")
> [@](#): > > Back in 11th grade chemisty, I got randomly assigned Thulium (a blind pick out of a hat) in a “write a research paper about an element” assignment. Wow, I guess I got lucky when I did a similar assignment and got astatine (which is a critical component of type metal alloy, owing to its uncommon property of expanding on freezing). ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078/49 "2006-05-03T21:36:42Z")
Europium is also used as a tracer in so-called time-resolved fluoroimmunoassays (TRFIA). A variety of Eu(III) chelates (other lanthanides are also employed in similar fashion) are also used in fluorogenic assays where a tracer is needed for some chemical, often a short peptide or other such biomolecule. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078/50 "2006-05-03T21:44:29Z")
Does Radon have any practical use? (Besides providing a market for radon detectors, of course.) ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078/51 "2006-05-03T22:03:57Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Perhaps you’ve heard of the [Periodic Table table?](http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/index.html) I love his [Natural Sample of 78% Pure Nitrogen](http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Elements/007/index.s7.html)… ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078/52 "2006-05-03T22:41:51Z")
[Astatine](http://periodic.lanl.gov/elements/85.html) doesn’t even have any uses listed on the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Periodic Table site. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078/53 "2006-05-03T23:03:06Z")
> [@Elendil's Heir](#): > > Bushchenium seems to be particularly useless, and both common and highly toxic. I’ll be charitible and assume you forgot what forum you’re in. Don’t do it again. Political shots don’t belong in GQ. **samclem** ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078/54 "2006-05-04T07:49:28Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > Does Radon have any practical use? > > (Besides providing a market for radon detectors, of course.) That was my thought as well - well, I thought it would be one of the noble gasses and reading through **cmyk** ’s link I settled on Radon as the worst of that lot > [@](#): > > From the [Radon Page](http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Elements/086/index.s7.html) > Radon gas is radioactive, and it seeps out of the ground all over the world (more in some places than others), collecting in basements and causing lung cancer. It is generated by the radioactive decay of thorium, of which there is a lot in the earth’s crust. You can install special fans and venting systems to remove the radon from your house, which may be a good idea if the levels in your geographical area are unusually high. > > There was a brief period of time in the early twentieth century during which people thought radon was a good thing, and actually bought products to introduce it into their drinking water. I have an example listed under uranium. (They were wrong.) ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078/55 "2006-05-04T08:12:23Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > But without [Holmium Oxide Filters](http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/processing/h243/h2403ulm0001.shtml) it would be harder to calibrate UV-vis spectrophotometers! :eek: Fuck me, I’m a :wally 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078/56 "2006-05-04T14:15:12Z")
In my home state, Maine, where there’s lots of granite, radon is a particular problem, as granitic igneous rocks have relatively high concentrations of U (not nearly high enough to mine, of course), which decays into Ra, which decays into Rn. There’s always a brisk business in Rn detectors for your basement there. Anyway, there was also a vibrant manufacturing economy, especially paper, and throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the mills dumped huge amounts of nasty chemicals all over the place, especially rivers. Some of these nasty chemicals leached into soil and made their way into the groundwater, and happen to be volatile (sundry toxic organics, mostly). A person with a porous foundation living near a mill or a waste dump might encounter an unhealthy buildup of these chemicals in their basement as well. I recall hearing that some contractors were using Rn as a surrogate for determining if relevant households were at greater risk for such hazards. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078/57 "2006-05-04T14:16:26Z")
> [@AWB](#): > > [Astatine](http://periodic.lanl.gov/elements/85.html) doesn’t even have any uses listed on the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Periodic Table site. Astatine does not occur naturally - an explicit requirement of the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078/58 "2006-05-04T14:27:31Z")
> [@UncleBeer](#): > > Astatine does not occur naturally - an explicit requirement of the OP. Sure it is. The page you link to merely states that it CAN be synthesized, not that synthesizing it is the only way to get it. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078/59 "2006-05-04T15:58:03Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > Sure it is. The page you link to merely states that it CAN be synthesized, not that synthesizing it is the only way to get it. Oops. You are correct. My apologies. > [@previously linked page](#): > > The total amount of astatine present in the earth’s crust, however, is less than 1 oz. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078/60 "2006-05-04T16:24:31Z")
> [@grimpixie](#): > > That was my thought as well - well, I thought it would be one of the noble gasses and reading through **cmyk** ’s link I settled on Radon as the worst of that lot Radon is used at least to some degree in radiotherapy - I’m guessing that they use it, ironically, against lung cancer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-useful-chemical-element/355078.md?page=4)