The world around us is still fraught with many mysteries, but even phenomena and substances known to scientists for a long time never cease to amaze and delight. We admire bright colors, enjoy tastes and use the properties of all kinds of substances that make our lives more comfortable, safer and more enjoyable. In search of the most reliable and strong materials, man has made many exciting discoveries, and here is a selection of just 25 such unique compounds!
25. Diamonds
If not everyone, then almost everyone knows this for sure. Diamonds are not only one of the most revered precious stones, but also one of the hardest minerals on Earth. On the Mohs scale (a scale of hardness that evaluates the reaction of a mineral to scratching), a diamond is listed at line 10. There are a total of 10 positions on the scale, and the 10th is the last and hardest degree. Diamonds are so hard that they can only be scratched by other diamonds.
24. Catching webs of the spider species Caerostris darwini
Photo: pixabay
It's hard to believe, but the web of the Caerostris darwini spider (or Darwin's spider) is stronger than steel and harder than Kevlar. This web has been recognized as the hardest biological material in the world, although now it already has a potential competitor, but the data has not yet been confirmed. The spider fiber was tested for such characteristics as breaking strain, impact strength, tensile strength and Young's modulus (the property of a material to resist stretching and compression during elastic deformation), and for all these indicators the spider web showed itself in the most amazing way. In addition, the Darwin spider's web is incredibly lightweight. For example, if we wrap our planet with Caerostris darwini fiber, the weight of such a long thread will be only 500 grams. Such long networks do not exist, but the theoretical calculations are simply amazing!
23. Aerographite
Photo: BrokenSphere
This synthetic foam is one of the lightest fibrous materials in the world, and it consists of a network of carbon tubes just a few microns in diameter. Aerographite is 75 times lighter than foam, but at the same time much stronger and more flexible. It can be compressed to 30 times its original size without any harm to its extremely elastic structure. Thanks to this property, airgraphite foam can withstand loads up to 40,000 times its own weight.
22. Palladium metal glass
Photo: pixabay
A team of scientists from the California Institute of Technology (Berkeley Lab) has developed the new kind metal glass, combining an almost ideal combination of strength and ductility. The reason for the uniqueness of the new material lies in the fact that its chemical structure successfully hides the fragility of existing glassy materials and at the same time maintains a high endurance threshold, which ultimately significantly increases the fatigue strength of this synthetic structure.
21. Tungsten carbide
Photo: pixabay
Tungsten carbide is an incredibly hard material that is highly wear resistant. Under certain conditions, this connection is considered very brittle, but under heavy load it shows unique plastic properties, manifested in the form of slip bands. Thanks to all these qualities, tungsten carbide is used in the manufacture of armor-piercing tips and various equipment, including all kinds of cutters, abrasive discs, drills, cutters, drill bits and other cutting tools.
20. Silicon carbide
Photo: Tiia Monto
Silicon carbide is one of the main materials used for the production of battle tanks. This compound is known for its low cost, outstanding refractoriness and high hardness, and is therefore often used in the manufacture of equipment or gear that must deflect bullets, cut or grind other durable materials. Silicon carbide makes excellent abrasives, semiconductors, and even inserts in Jewelry imitating diamonds.
19. Cubic boron nitride
Photo: wikimedia commons
Cubic boron nitride is a super-hard material, similar in hardness to diamond, but also has a number of distinctive advantages - high temperature stability and chemical resistance. Cubic boron nitride does not dissolve in iron and nickel even when exposed to high temperatures, while diamond under the same conditions enters into chemical reactions quite quickly. This is actually beneficial for its use in industrial grinding tools.
18. Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), Dyneema fiber brand
Photo: Justsail
High modulus polyethylene has extremely high wear resistance, low friction coefficient and high fracture toughness (low temperature reliability). Today it is considered the strongest fibrous substance in the world. The most amazing thing about this polyethylene is that it is lighter than water and can stop bullets at the same time! Cables and ropes made from Dyneema fibers do not sink in water, do not require lubrication and do not change their properties when wet, which is very important for shipbuilding.
17. Titanium alloys
Photo: Alchemist-hp (pse-mendelejew.de)
Titanium alloys are incredibly ductile and exhibit amazing strength when stretched. In addition, they have high heat resistance and corrosion resistance, which makes them extremely useful in areas such as aircraft manufacturing, rocketry, shipbuilding, chemical, food and transport engineering.
16. Liquidmetal alloy
Photo: pixabay
Developed in 2003 at the California Institute of Technology, this material is renowned for its strength and durability. The name of the compound connotes something brittle and liquid, but at room temperature it is actually extremely hard, wear-resistant, resistant to corrosion and transforms when heated, like thermoplastics. The main areas of application so far are the manufacture of watches, golf clubs and covers for mobile phones (Vertu, iPhone).
15. Nanocellulose
Photo: pixabay
Nanocellulose is isolated from wood fiber and is a new type of wood material that is even stronger than steel! In addition, nanocellulose is also cheaper. The innovation has great potential and in the future could seriously compete with glass and carbon fiber. The developers believe that this material will soon be in great demand in the production of military armor, super-flexible screens, filters, flexible batteries, absorbent aerogels and biofuels.
14. Teeth of limpet snails
Photo: pixabay
Previously, we already told you about the Darwin spider’s catching net, which was once recognized as the strongest biological material on the planet. However, a recent study has shown that the limpet is the most durable biological substance known to science. Yes, these teeth are stronger than the web of Caerostris darwini. And this is not surprising, because tiny sea creatures feed on algae growing on the surface of harsh rocks, and in order to separate food from the rock, these animals have to work hard. Scientists believe that in the future we will be able to use the example of the fibrous structure of the teeth of sea limpets in the engineering industry and begin to build cars, boats and even high-strength aircraft, inspired by the example of simple snails.
13. Maraging steel
Photo: pixabay
Maraging steel is a high-strength, high-alloy alloy with excellent ductility and toughness. The material is widely used in rocket science and is used to make all kinds of tools.
12. Osmium
Photo: Periodictableru / www.periodictable.ru
Osmium is an incredibly dense element, and its hardness and high melting point make it difficult to machine. That is why osmium is used where durability and strength are valued most. Osmium alloys are found in electrical contacts, rocketry, military projectiles, surgical implants, and many other applications.
11. Kevlar
Photo: wikimedia commons
Kevlar is a high-strength fiber that can be found in car tires, brake pads, cables, prosthetic and orthopedic products, body armor, protective clothing fabrics, shipbuilding and parts of unmanned aerial vehicles. The material has become almost synonymous with strength and is a type of plastic with incredibly high strength and elasticity. The tensile strength of Kevlar is 8 times higher than that of steel wire, and it begins to melt at a temperature of 450℃.
10. Ultra-high molecular weight high-density polyethylene, Spectra fiber brand
Photo: Tomas Castelazo, www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons
UHMWPE is essentially a very durable plastic. Spectra, a UHMWPE brand, is, in turn, a lightweight fiber of the highest wear resistance, 10 times superior to steel in this indicator. Like Kevlar, Spectra is used in the manufacture of body armor and protective helmets. Along with UHMWPE, the Dynimo Spectrum brand is popular in the shipbuilding and transport industries.
9. Graphene
Photo: pixabay
Graphene is an allotrope of carbon, and its crystal lattice, just one atom thick, is so strong that it is 200 times harder than steel. Graphene looks like cling film, but breaking it is an almost impossible task. To pierce a graphene sheet, you will have to stick a pencil into it, on which you will have to balance a load that weighs an entire school bus. Good luck!
8. Carbon nanotube paper
Photo: pixabay
Thanks to nanotechnology, scientists have managed to make paper that is 50 thousand times thinner than a human hair. Sheets of carbon nanotubes are 10 times lighter than steel, but the most amazing thing is that they are as much as 500 times stronger than steel! Macroscopic nanotube plates are most promising for the manufacture of supercapacitor electrodes.
7. Metal microgrid
Photo: pixabay
This is the lightest metal in the world! Metal microgrid is a synthetic porous material that is 100 times lighter than foam. But don't let its appearance fool you, these microgrids are also incredibly durable, giving them great potential for use in all sorts of engineering applications. They can be used to make excellent shock absorbers and thermal insulators, and the metal's amazing ability to shrink and return to its original state allows it to be used for energy storage. Metal microgrids are also actively used in the production of various parts for aircraft of the American company Boeing.
6. Carbon nanotubes
Photo: User Mstroeck / en.wikipedia
We have already talked above about ultra-strong macroscopic plates made of carbon nanotubes. But what kind of material is this? Essentially these are graphene planes rolled into a tube (9th point). The result is an incredibly light, resilient and durable material with a wide range of applications.
5. Airbrush
Photo: wikimedia commons
Also known as graphene airgel, this material is extremely lightweight and strong at the same time. The new type of gel completely replaces the liquid phase with a gaseous phase and is characterized by sensational hardness, heat resistance, low density and low thermal conductivity. Incredibly, graphene airgel is 7 times lighter than air! The unique compound is able to restore its original shape even after 90% compression and can absorb an amount of oil that is 900 times the weight of the airgraphene used for absorption. Perhaps in the future this class of materials will help combat environmental disasters such as oil spills.
4. Untitled material, developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Photo: pixabay
As you read this, a team of scientists from MIT is working to improve the properties of graphene. The researchers said they have already succeeded in converting the two-dimensional structure of this material into three-dimensional. The new graphene substance has not yet received its name, but it is already known that its density is 20 times less than that of steel, and its strength is 10 times higher than that of steel.
3. Carbin
Photo: Smokefoot
Although it's just linear chains of carbon atoms, carbyne has 2 times the tensile strength of graphene and is 3 times harder than diamond!
2. Boron nitride wurtzite modification
Photo: pixabay
This newly discovered natural substance is formed during volcanic eruptions and is 18% harder than diamonds. However, it is superior to diamonds in a number of other parameters. Wurtzite boron nitride is one of only 2 natural substances found on Earth that is harder than diamond. The problem is that there are very few such nitrides in nature, and therefore they are not easy to study or apply in practice.
1. Lonsdaleite
Photo: pixabay
Also known as hexagonal diamond, lonsdaleite is made up of carbon atoms, but in this modification the atoms are arranged slightly differently. Like wurtzite boron nitride, lonsdaleite is a natural substance superior in hardness to diamond. Moreover, this amazing mineral is as much as 58% harder than diamond! Like wurtzite boron nitride, this compound is extremely rare. Sometimes lonsdaleite is formed during the collision of meteorites containing graphite with the Earth.
This basic list of ten elements is the heaviest in terms of density per cubic centimeter. However, note that density is not mass, it simply measures how tightly packed the mass of an object is.
Now that we understand this, let's take a look at the heaviest ones in the entire known universe.
10. Tantalum
Density per 1 cm³ - 16.67 g
The atomic number of tantalum is 73. This blue-gray metal is very hard and also has a super high melting point.
9. Uranium 
Density per 1 cm³ - 19.05 g
Discovered in 1789 by the German chemist Martin H. Klaprot, the metal only became true uranium almost a hundred years later, in 1841, thanks to the French chemist Eugene Melchior Peligot.
8. Tungsten (Wolframium) 
Density per 1 cm³ - 19.26 g
Tungsten exists in four different minerals and is also the heaviest of all elements and plays an important biological role.
7. Gold (Aurum) 
Density per 1 cm³ - 19.29 g
They say money doesn't grow on trees, but the same can't be said about gold! Small traces of gold have been found on the leaves of eucalyptus trees.
6. Plutonium 
Density per 1 cm³ - 20.26 g
Plutonium exhibits a colorful oxidation state in aqueous solution, and can also spontaneously change oxidation state and color! This is a real chameleon among the elements.
5. Neptunium 
Density per 1 cm³ - 20.47 g
Named after the planet Neptune, it was discovered by Professor Edwin McMillan in 1940. It also became the first synthetic transuranium element from the actinide family to be discovered.
4. Rhenium 
Density per 1 cm³ - 21.01 g
The name of this chemical element comes from the Latin word "Rhenus", which means "Rhine". It was discovered by Walter Noddack in Germany in 1925.
3. Platinum 
Density per 1 cm³ - 21.45 g
One of the most precious metals on this list (along with gold), and is used to make almost everything. As a weird fact, all the platinum mined (every last bit) could fit in an average sized living room! Not much, actually. (Try to put all the gold in it.)
2. Iridium
Density per 1 cm³ - 22.56 g
Iridium was discovered in London in 1803 by the English chemist Smithson Tennant along with osmium: elements present in natural platinum as impurities. Yes, iridium was discovered purely by accident.
1. Osmium
Density per 1 cm³ - 22.59 g
There is nothing heavier (per cubic centimeter) than osmium. The name of this element comes from the ancient Greek word "osme", which means "smell", since the chemical reactions of its dissolution in acid or water are accompanied by an unpleasant, persistent odor.
Precious metals have captivated the minds of people for centuries, who are willing to pay huge sums for products made from them, but the metal in question is not used in jewelry production. Osmium is the heaviest substance on Earth, which is classified as a rare earth precious metal. Due to its high density, this substance has a lot of weight. Is osmium the heaviest substance (among those known) not only on planet Earth, but also in space?
This substance is a shiny metal gray-blue color. Despite the fact that it is a representative of the noble metal family, it is not possible to make jewelry from it, since it is very hard and, at the same time, fragile. Because of these qualities, osmium is difficult to machine, and to this we must add its considerable weight. If you weigh a cube made of osmium (side length 8 cm) and compare it with the weight of a 10-liter bucket filled with water, the first will be 1.5 kg heavier than the second.
The heaviest substance on Earth was discovered at the beginning of the 18th century, thanks to chemical experiments with platinum ore by dissolving the latter in aqua regia (a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids). Since osmium does not dissolve in acids and alkalis, melts at a temperature slightly above 3000°C, boils at 5012°C, and does not change its structure at a pressure of 770 GPa, it can confidently be considered the most powerful substance on Earth.
Osmium deposits do not exist in nature in its pure form; it is usually found in compounds with other chemicals. Its content in the earth's crust is negligible, and extraction is labor-intensive. These factors have a huge impact on the cost of osmium; its price is amazing, because it is much more expensive than gold.
Due to its high cost, this substance is not widely used for industrial purposes, but only in cases where its use is determined by maximum benefit. Thanks to the combination of osmium with other metals, the wear resistance of the latter, their durability and resistance to mechanical stress (friction and corrosion of metals) increase. Such alloys are used in rocketry, military and aviation industries. An alloy of osmium and platinum is used in medicine to make surgical instruments and implants. Its use is justified in the production of highly sensitive instruments, watch movements and compasses.
An interesting fact is that scientists find osmium, along with other precious metals, in the chemical composition of iron meteorites that fell to earth. Does this mean that this element is the heaviest substance on Earth and in space?
This is difficult to say. The fact is that the conditions of outer space are very different from those on earth; the force of gravity between objects is very strong, which in turn leads to a significant increase in the density of some space objects. One example is stars, which are made of neutrons. By earthly standards, this is a huge weight in one cubic millimeter. And these are only grains of knowledge that humanity possesses.
The most expensive and heaviest substance on earth is osmium-187; only Kazakhstan sells it on the world market, but this isotope has not yet been used in industry.
Extraction of osmium is a very labor-intensive process, and it takes at least nine months to obtain it in consumer form. In this regard, the annual production of osmium in the world is only about 600 kg (this is very small compared to the production of gold, which is calculated in thousands of tons annually).
The name of the most powerful substance, “osmium,” is translated as “smell,” but the metal itself does not smell of anything, but the smell appears during the oxidation of osmium, and it is quite unpleasant.
So, in terms of heaviness and density on Earth, there is no equal to osmium, this metal is also described as the rarest, most expensive, most durable, most brilliant, and experts also say that osmium oxide has very strong toxicity.
We present a selection of chemical records from the Guinness Book of Records.
Due to the fact that new substances are constantly being discovered, this selection is not permanent.
Chemical records for inorganic substances
- The most common element in the earth's crust is oxygen O. Its weight content is 49% of the mass of the earth's crust.
- The rarest element in the earth's crust is astatine At. Its content in the entire earth's crust is only 0.16 g. The second place in rarity is occupied by the French Fr.
- The most common element in the universe is hydrogen H. Approximately 90% of all atoms in the universe are hydrogen. The second most abundant element in the universe is helium He.
- The strongest stable oxidizing agent is a complex of krypton difluoride and antimony pentafluoride. Due to its strong oxidizing effect (oxidizes almost all elements to higher oxidation states, including oxidizes air oxygen), it is very difficult for it to measure the electrode potential. The only solvent that reacts with it slowly enough is anhydrous hydrogen fluoride.
- The densest substance on planet Earth is osmium. The density of osmium is 22.587 g/cm3.
- The lightest metal is lithium Li. The density of lithium is 0.543 g/cm 3 .
- The densest compound is ditungsten carbide W 2 C. The density of ditungsten carbide is 17.3 g/cm 3 .
- Currently, the lowest density solids are graphene aerogels. They are a system of graphene and nanotubes filled with air layers. The lightest of these aerogels has a density of 0.00016 g/cm 3 . The previous solid with the lowest density is silicon airgel (0.005 g/cm3). Silicon airgel is used in the collection of micrometeorites present in the tails of comets.
- The lightest gas and, at the same time, the lightest non-metal is hydrogen. The mass of 1 liter of hydrogen is only 0.08988 g. In addition, hydrogen is also the most fusible non-metal at normal pressure (melting point is -259.19 0 C).
- The lightest liquid is liquid hydrogen. The mass of 1 liter of liquid hydrogen is only 70 grams.
- The heaviest inorganic gas at room temperature is tungsten hexafluoride WF 6 (boiling point +17 0 C). The density of tungsten hexafluoride in gas form is 12.9 g/l. Among gases with a boiling point below 0 °C, the record belongs to tellurium hexafluoride TeF 6 with a gas density at 25 0 C of 9.9 g/l.
- The most expensive metal in the world is Californian Cf. The price of 1 gram of the 252 Cf isotope reaches 500 thousand US dollars.
- Helium He is the substance with the lowest boiling point. Its boiling point is -269 0 C. Helium is the only substance that does not have a melting point at normal pressure. Even at absolute zero it remains liquid and can only be obtained in solid form under pressure (3 MPa).
- The most refractory metal and the substance with the highest boiling point is tungsten W. The melting point of tungsten is +3420 0 C, and the boiling point is +5680 0 C.
- The most refractory material is an alloy of hafnium and tantalum carbides (1:1) (melting point +4215 0 C)
- The most fusible metal is mercury. The melting point of mercury is -38.87 0 C. Mercury is also the heaviest liquid, its density at 25°C is 13.536 g/cm 3 .
- The most acid-resistant metal is iridium. Until now, not a single acid or mixture thereof is known in which iridium would dissolve. However, it can be dissolved in alkalis with oxidizing agents.
- The strongest stable acid is a solution of antimony pentafluoride in hydrogen fluoride.
- The hardest metal is chromium Cr.
- The softest metal at 25 0 C is cesium.
- The hardest material is still diamond, although there are already about a dozen substances approaching it in hardness (boron carbide and nitride, titanium nitride, etc.).
- The most electrically conductive metal at room temperature is silver Ag.
- The lowest speed of sound in liquid helium is at a temperature of 2.18 K, it is only 3.4 m/s.
- The highest speed of sound in diamond is 18600 m/s.
- The isotope with the shortest half-life is Li-5, which decays in 4.4·10-22 seconds (proton ejection). Due to such a short lifespan, not all scientists recognize the fact of its existence.
- The isotope with the longest measured half-life is Te-128, with a half-life of 2.2 × 1024 years (double β decay).
- Xenon and cesium have the largest number of stable isotopes (36 each).
- The shortest chemical element names are boron and iodine (3 letters each).
- The longest chemical element names (eleven letters each) are protactinium Pa, rutherfordium Rf, darmstadtium Ds.
Chemical records for organic substances
- The heaviest organic gas at room temperature and the heaviest gas among all at room temperature is N-(octafluorobut-1-ylidene)-O-trifluoromethylhydroxylamine (bp +16 C). Its density as a gas is 12.9 g/l. Among gases with a boiling point below 0°C, the record belongs to perfluorobutane with a gas density at 0°C of 10.6 g/l.
- The most bitter substance is denatonium saccharinate. The combination of denatonium benzoate with the sodium salt of saccharin produced a substance 5 times more bitter than the previous record holder (denatonium benzoate).
- The most non-toxic organic substance is methane. When its concentration increases, intoxication occurs due to a lack of oxygen, and not as a result of poisoning.
- The strongest adsorbent for water was obtained in 1974 from a starch derivative, acrylamide and acrylic acid. This substance is capable of holding water, the mass of which is 1300 times greater than its own.
- The strongest adsorbent for petroleum products is carbon airgel. 3.5 kg of this substance can absorb 1 ton of oil.
- The most smelly compounds are ethyl selenol and butyl mercaptan - their smell resembles a combination of the smells of rotting cabbage, garlic, onions and sewage at the same time.
- The sweetest substance is N-((2,3-methylenedioxyphenylmethylamino)-(4-cyanophenylimino)methyl)aminoacetic acid (lugduname). This substance is 205,000 times sweeter than a 2% sucrose solution. There are several analogues with similar sweetness. Of the industrial substances, the sweetest is talin (a complex of thaumatin and aluminum salts), which is 3,500 - 6,000 times sweeter than sucrose. IN Lately In the food industry, neotame appeared with a sweetness 7000 times higher than sucrose.
- The slowest enzyme is nitrogenase, which catalyzes the absorption of atmospheric nitrogen by nodule bacteria. The complete cycle of converting one nitrogen molecule into 2 ammonium ions takes one and a half seconds.
- The organic substance with the highest nitrogen content is either bis(diazotetrazolyl)hydrazine C2H2N12, containing 86.6% nitrogen, or tetraazidomethane C(N3)4, containing 93.3% nitrogen (depending on whether the latter is considered organic or not) . These are explosives that are extremely sensitive to shock, friction and heat. Among inorganic substances, the record, of course, belongs to gaseous nitrogen, and among compounds, to hydronitrous acid HN 3.
- The longest chemical name has 1578 characters in English spelling and is a modified nucleotide sequence. This substance is called: Adenosene. N--2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)adenylyl-(3'→5′)-4-deamino-4-(2,4-dimethylphenoxy)-2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3'→5 ′)-4-deamino-4-(2,4-dimethylphenoxy)-2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3'→5′)-N--2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3 '→5′)-N--2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3'→5′)-N--2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)guanylyl-(3'→5′)-N- -2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)guanylyl-(3'→5′)-N--2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)adenylyl-(3'→5′)-N--2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl )cytidylyl-(3'→5′)-4-deamino-4-(2,4-dimethylphenoxy)-2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3'→5′)-4-deamino-4-( 2,4-dimethylphenoxy)-2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3'→5′)-N--2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)guanylyl-(3'→5′)-4-deamino- 4-(2,4-dimethylphenoxy)-2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3'→5′)-N--2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3'→5′)-N --2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3'→5′)-N--2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)adenylyl-(3'→5′)-N--2′-O-( tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3'→5′)-N--2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3'→5′)-N--2′,3′-O-(methoxymethylene)-octadecakis( 2-chlorophenyl)ester. 5'-.
- The longest chemical name has DNA isolated from human mitochondria and consisting of 16,569 nucleotide pairs. The full name of this compound contains about 207,000 characters.
- The system of the largest number of immiscible liquids, again separating into components after mixing, contains 5 liquids: mineral oil, silicone oil, water, benzyl alcohol and N-perfluoroethylperfluoropyridine.
- The densest organic liquid at room temperature is diiodomethane. Its density is 3.3 g/cm3.
- The most refractory individual organic substances are some aromatic compounds. Of the condensed ones, this is tetrabenzheptacene (melting point +570 C), of the non-condensed ones - p-septiphenyl (melting point +545 C). There are organic compounds for which the melting point is not precisely measured, for example, for hexabenzocoronene it is indicated that its melting point is above 700 C. The thermal crosslinking product of polyacrylonitrile decomposes at a temperature of about 1000 C.
- The organic substance with the highest boiling point is hexatriaconylcyclohexane. It boils at +551°C.
- The longest alkane is nonacontatrictan C390H782. It was specially synthesized to study the crystallization of polyethylene.
- The longest protein is the muscle protein titin. Its length depends on the type of living organism and location. Mouse titin, for example, has 35,213 amino acid residues (mol. weight 3,906,488 Da), human titin has a length of up to 33,423 amino acid residues (mol. weight 3,713,712 Da).
- The longest genome is that of the plant Paris japonica. It contains 150,000,000,000 nucleotide pairs - 50 times more than in humans (3,200,000,000 nucleotide pairs).
- The largest molecule is the DNA of the first human chromosome. It contains about 10,000,000,000 atoms.
- The individual explosive with the highest detonation speed is 4,4′-dinitroazofuroxan. Its measured detonation speed was 9700 m/s. According to unverified data, ethyl perchlorate has an even higher detonation rate.
- The individual explosive with the highest heat of explosion is ethylene glycol dinitrate. Its heat of explosion is 6606 kJ/kg.
- The strongest organic acid is pentacyanocyclopentadiene.
- The strongest base is probably 2-methylcyclopropenyllithium. The strongest nonionic base is phosphazene, which has a rather complex structure.
What happens if you stack the edges of carbon nanotubes on top of each other and alternate layers of them? The result is a material that absorbs 99.9% of the light that hits it. The microscopic surface of the material is uneven and rough, which refracts light and is also a poor reflective surface. After that, try using carbon nanotubes as superconductors in a specific order, which makes them excellent light absorbers, and you'll get a real black storm. Scientists are seriously puzzled by the potential uses of this substance, since, in fact, light is not “lost”, the substance could be used to improve optical devices such as telescopes and even be used for solar cells operating at almost 100% efficiency.
2. The most flammable substance
Lots of things burn at an astonishing rate, such as styrofoam, napalm, and that's just the beginning. But what if there was a substance that could set the earth on fire? On the one hand, this is a provocative question, but it was asked as a starting point. Chlorine trifluoride has the dubious reputation of being a horribly flammable substance, even though the Nazis believed the substance was too dangerous to work with. When people who discuss genocide believe that their purpose in life is not to use something because it is too lethal, it supports careful handling of these substances. They say that one day a ton of the substance spilled and a fire started, and 30.5 cm of concrete and a meter of sand and gravel burned out until everything calmed down. Unfortunately, the Nazis were right.
3. The most poisonous substance
Tell me, what would you least like to get on your face? This could well be the deadliest poison, which would rightfully take 3rd place among the main extreme substances. Such a poison is indeed different from what burns through concrete, and from the strongest acid in the world (which will soon be invented). Although not entirely true, you have all undoubtedly heard from the medical community about Botox, and thanks to it, the deadliest poison has become famous. Botox uses botulinum toxin, produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, and it is very deadly, with the amount of a grain of salt being enough to kill a 200-pound person. In fact, scientists have calculated that spraying just 4 kg of this substance is enough to kill all people on earth. An eagle would probably treat a rattlesnake much more humanely than this poison would treat a person.
4. The hottest substance
There are very few things in the world known to man that are hotter than the inside of a freshly microwaved Hot Pocket, but this stuff looks set to break that record too. Created by colliding gold atoms at nearly the speed of light, the substance is called quark-gluon "soup" and reaches a crazy 4 trillion degrees Celsius, which is almost 250,000 times hotter than the stuff inside the Sun. The amount of energy released during the collision would be enough to melt protons and neutrons, which itself has features you wouldn't even suspect. Scientists say this material could give us a glimpse of what the birth of our universe was like, so it's worth understanding that tiny supernovae aren't created for fun. However, the really good news is that the "soup" took up one trillionth of a centimeter and lasted for a trillionth of one trillionth of a second.
5. The most caustic acid
Acid is a terrible substance, one of the scariest monsters in cinema was given acid blood to make him even more terrible than just a killing machine (Alien), so it is ingrained within us that exposure to acid is a very bad thing. If the "aliens" were filled with fluoride-antimony acid, not only would they fall deep through the floor, but the fumes emitted from their dead bodies would kill everything around them. This acid is 21019 times stronger than sulfuric acid and can seep through glass. And it can explode if you add water. And during its reaction, toxic fumes are released that can kill anyone in the room.
6. The most explosive explosive
In fact, this place is currently shared by two components: HMX and heptanitrocubane. Heptanitrocubane mainly exists in laboratories, and is similar to HMX, but has a denser crystal structure, which carries a greater potential for destruction. HMX, on the other hand, exists in large enough quantities that it can threaten physical existence. It is used in solid fuel for rockets, and even for nuclear weapons detonators. And the last one is the worst, because despite how easily it happens in the movies, starting the fission/fusion reaction that results in bright glowing nuclear clouds that look like mushrooms is not an easy task, but HMX does it perfectly.
7. The most radioactive substance
Speaking of radiation, it's worth mentioning that the glowing green "plutonium" rods shown in The Simpsons are just fiction. Just because something is radioactive doesn't mean it glows. It's worth mentioning because polonium-210 is so radioactive that it glows blue. Former Soviet spy Alexander Litvinenko was misled into having the substance added to his food and died of cancer soon after. This is not something you want to joke about; the glow is caused by the air around the material being affected by radiation, and, in fact, objects around it can heat up. When we say “radiation,” we think, for example, of a nuclear reactor or explosion where a fission reaction actually occurs. This is only the release of ionized particles, and not the out-of-control splitting of atoms.
8. The heaviest substance
If you thought the heaviest substance on Earth was diamonds, it was a good but inaccurate guess. This is a technically engineered diamond nanorod. It is actually a collection of nano-scale diamonds, the least compressed and the heaviest substance known to man. It doesn't actually exist, but that would be pretty handy since it means that someday we could cover our cars with this stuff and just get rid of it when a train collision occurs (not a realistic event). This substance was invented in Germany in 2005 and will probably be used to the same extent as industrial diamonds, except that the new substance is more resistant to wear and tear than regular diamonds.
9. The most magnetic substance
If the inductor were a small black piece, then it would be the same substance. The substance, developed in 2010 from iron and nitrogen, has magnetic powers that are 18% greater than the previous record holder and is so powerful that it has forced scientists to reconsider how magnetism works. The person who discovered this substance distanced himself from his studies so that no other scientist could reproduce his work, since it was reported that a similar compound was developed in Japan in the past in 1996, but other physicists could not reproduce it, so this substance was not officially accepted. It is unclear whether Japanese physicists should promise to make Sepuku under these circumstances. If this substance can be reproduced, it could herald a new age of efficient electronics and magnetic motors, perhaps enhanced in power by an order of magnitude.
10. The strongest superfluidity
Superfluidity is a state of matter (like a solid or gas) that occurs under extreme low temperatures, has high thermal conductivity (every ounce of this substance should be at exactly the same temperature) and no viscosity. Helium-2 is the most typical representative. The helium-2 cup will spontaneously rise and spill out of the container. Helium-2 will also leak through other solid materials, as the complete lack of friction allows it to flow through other invisible holes that regular helium (or water for that matter) would not leak through. Helium-2 does not come into its proper state at number 1, as if it has the ability to act on its own, although it is also the most efficient thermal conductor on Earth, several hundred times better than copper. Heat moves so quickly through Helium-2 that it travels in waves, like sound (known actually as "second sound"), rather than being dissipated, where it simply moves from one molecule to another. By the way, the forces that control the ability of helium-2 to crawl along the wall are called the “third sound.” You're unlikely to get anything more extreme than a substance that required the definition of 2 new types of sound.
