Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!bcm!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!nanotech From: chris@fs07.webo.dg.com (Chris Moriondo) Newsgroups: sci.nanotech Subject: availability of elements Message-ID: Date: 25 Mar 91 00:12:17 GMT Sender: nanotech@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 20 Approved: nanotech@aramis.rutgers.edu If, as some have argued, nanotechnology will lead to to an economy in which the value of most material goods approaches zero, we still will need raw materials to supply the atoms which we are rearranging. My question is, can anyone tell me where I might find estimates of the relative occurence of the elements in: the crust of the earth; the entire volume of the earth; the solar system; and the universe? I assume that as you consider larger and larger scales, hydrogen dominates more and more, but what about the availability of the rest of the elements? (I may want to invest in some commodities futures :-) thanks, -chrism --------------------------------------------------------------------- "Not only is Space from the point of view of life and humanity empty, but Time is empty also. Life is like a little glow, scarcely kindled yet, in these void immensities." -- H.G. Wells, "Outline of History"