Least Dense vs Most dense Material in the world

Does it float?

-Empty space filled with air - doesn't float.

-Density is low because the material is extremely porous

-But in the atmosphere, air fills the empty space. The volume of air displaced now takes up a small amount of space.

-The tiny weight of this displaced air presents the buoyant force, which is not sufficient to counter the weight of the structure.

Sources

• http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/76/osmium
• http://io9.gizmodo.com/this-is-a-picture-of-the-lightest-substance-on-earth-461681135
• http://www.aerogelgraphene.com/graphene-aerogel-2/
• http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/en/2016/c5en00125k#!divAbstract
• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2296223/Lightest-material-Graphene-aerogel-balanced-atop-petals-flower.html
• http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2016/CC/c6cc05910d#!divAbstract
• http://www.aerogelgraphene.com/graphene-applications-3/
• http://www.sciencealert.com/you-can-now-3d-print-one-of-the-world-s-lightest-materials-aerogel
• http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/os.htm
• http://www.aerogelgraphene.com/graphene-melting-point/
• http://www.aerogelgraphene.com/graphene-aerogel-2/
• http://www.aerogelgraphene.com/how-to-make-graphene-at-home/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopes_of_osmium
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmium
• http://ipa-news.com/index/platinum-group-metals/the-six-metals/osmium.html?PHPSESSID=bc055b2fb3683c118782f2c7869bf77b
• https://physics.info/buoyancy/summary.shtml
• https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/71069/if-aerographite-is-lighter-than-air-why-doesnt-it-float

Applications

• Very rare, does not have many uses
• Is alloyed (mixed with) with platinum group metals such as iridium, ruthenium, rhodium...
• Can be found in fountain tip pens, needles, electrical contacts, instrument pivots, is also used as a catalyst in some cases
• Product of nickel refining
• Used in forensics as a powder for DNA samples

Quick Facts

• Density is 22.59 g/cm^3
• Atomic #76
• Melting Point: 3033°C or 5491° F
• Boiling Point: 5008°C or 9046° F
• Comes from the greek word 'osme' which means smell
• Discovered by Smithson Tennant in 1803
• 2x as dense as lead
• 10x as hard as platinum
• Brittle and hard in the metal state
• Metal is not toxic, but the oxide causes lung, skin, and eye damage

New Discoveries

• Scientists wanted to see how Osmium could float
• Tried with ferromagnets, and diamagnets (didn't work)
• Mixture of 80% liquid nitrogen and 20% liquid oxygen - strong paramagnet - had to dilute (worked)

Buoyancy and Density

Archimedes' Principle

not affected by...

Most Dense Material in the World

• the mass of the immersed object
• density of the immersed object

weight of fluid displaced

Graphene Atomic structure before freeze-dried

The element:

Osmium

What is Buoyancy?

• Force exerted on an object that is wholly or partly immersed in a fluid
• Vector
• Newton
• Caused by differences in pressure acting on opposite sides of an object immersed in a static fluid

Applications

• Since it can absorb oil, it can help to clean up oil spills
• can replace platinum in solar cells because it is cheaper (than platinum, 850mg=$275)
• used in circuits in technology
• batteries-phones, creates the 'touch screen' portion, and is durable
• magnetic property-charge phones faster

The least dense material in the world:

Graphene Aerogel

By: Manya Gauba

Basic facts and Properties

• Scientists from a university in China made the material
• It is 7 times less than the density of air, and is less dense than helium, water is 1000x times as dense
• very absorptive, can absorb 900x its own weight in oil, not water
• made from layers of graphene stacked (3 million sheets of graphene=1mm thickness), freeze-dried
• It is a solid, but has some properties of a gas (weight and density)
• Good conductor of heat and electricity, better than copper
• 200x stronger than steel
• flexible- can be stretched up to 20% without breaking
• compressible
• carbon nanotubes used to help improve properties