Metal Usage in Modern Technology (IMAGE)

Yale School of the Environment

Metal Usage in Modern Technology

Caption

Modern technology relies on virtually all of the stable elements of the periodic table. This figure, which pictures the concentrations (in parts per million) of elements on a printed circuit board, provides an illustration of that fact. The concentrations of copper and iron are obviously the highest, and others such as cesium are much lower, but concentration clearly does not reflect elemental importance: all the elements are required in order to maintain the functions for which the board was designed.

Credit

Thomas Graedel, et al

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