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Reading: Abundance of Elements in Earth's Crust

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    • The table shows the abundance of elements in Earth’s crust. Numbers show percentage or parts per million (ppm) in mass; 10,000 ppm = 1%. Note that numbers are estimates, and they will vary depending on source and method of estimation. Order of magnitude of data can roughly be relied upon.

    Rank Atomic Number Element Symbol

    Lithosphere abundance
    1 8 oxygen O 460,000
    2 14 silicon Si 277,000
    3 13 aluminium Al 81,300
    4 26 iron Fe 50,000
    5 20 calcium Ca 36,300
    6 11 sodium Na 28,300
    7 19 potassium K 25,900
    8 12 magnesium Mg 20,900
    9 22 titanium Ti 4,400
    10 1 hydrogen H 1,400
    11 15 phosphorus P 1,200
    12 25 manganese Mn 1,000
    13 9 fluorine F 800
    14 56 barium Ba 500
    15 6 carbon C 300
    16 38 strontium Sr  
    17 16 sulfur S 500
    18 40 zirconium Zr  
    19 74 tungsten W  
    20 23 vanadium V 100
    21 17 chlorine Cl 500
    22 24 chromium Cr 100
    23 37 rubidium Rb 300
    24 28 nickel Ni  
    25 30 zinc Zn  
    26 29 copper Cu 100
    27 58 cerium Ce  
    28 60 neodymium Nd  
    29 57 lanthanum La  
    30 39 yttrium Y  
    31 7 nitrogen N 50
    32 27 cobalt Co  
    33 3 lithium Li  
    34 41 niobium Nb  
    35 31 gallium Ga  
    36 21 scandium Sc  
    37 82 lead Pb  
    38 62 samarium Sm  
    39 90 thorium Th  
    40 59 praseodymium Pr  
    41 5 boron B  
    42 64 gadolinium Gd  
    43 66 dysprosium Dy  
    44 72 hafnium Hf  
    45 68 erbium Er  
    46 70 ytterbium Yb  
    47 55 caesium Cs  
    48 4 beryllium Be  
    49 50 tin Sn 0
    50 63 europium Eu  
    51 92 uranium U  
    52 73 tantalum Ta  
    53 32 germanium Ge  
    54 42 molybdenum Mo  
    55 33 arsenic As  
    56 67 holmium Ho  
    57 65 terbium Tb  
    58 69 thulium Tm  
    59 35 bromine Br  
    60 81 thallium Tl  
    61 71 lutetium Lu  
    62 51 antimony Sb  
    63 53 iodine I  
    64 48 cadmium Cd  
    65 47 silver Ag  
    66 80 mercury Hg  
    67 34 selenium Se  
    68 49 indium In  
    69 83 bismuth Bi  
    70 52 tellurium Te  
    71 78 platinum Pt  
    72 79 gold Au  
    73 44 ruthenium Ru  
    74 46 palladium Pd  
    75 75 rhenium Re  
    76 77 iridium Ir  
    77 45 rhodium Rh  
    78 76 osmium Os  

     

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