Top 10 Most Common and Abundant Elements in the Earth’s Crust
While most of us know that the most abundant minerals in the earth’s crust are the silicates, at least a few on this list might well surprise you. This is not a list going by weight as it would be a different order, this list goes by pure percentage…
Top 10 Most Common and Abundant Elements in the Earth’s Crust
10 – Hydrogen (Approximate Percentage by weight: 0.14%)
You might also notice how many (if not all) of these elements are very important to mankind, not just the Earth and it’s crust.
9 – Titanium (Approximate Percentage by weight: 0.44%)
All of these minerals in this list are substances that have formed naturally in the Earth. But I suppose it is only a matter of time before a man-made mineral rises up the list.
8 – Magnesium (Approximate Percentage by weight: 2.1%)
Each of these elements has a definite chemical composition and structure. Some are much more complicated than others which also makes them heavier as well.
7 – Potassium (Approximate Percentage by weight: 2.6%)
Talking about weight, this list is percentage based, but if it was down to a percentage of weight it would be very different indeed.
6 – Sodium (Approximate Percentage by weight: 2.8%)
This list might have ten of the most common, but there are over 3000 minerals known to be in the Earth crust, which would have made a very long list indeed.
5 – Calcium (Approximate Percentage by weight: 3.6%)
For those who don’t know, the Earth’s crust is just 3–44 miles thick and represents less than 1% of the earth’s total volume!
4 – Iron (Approximate Percentage by weight: 5.0%)
Do keep in mind that this is only the top ten elements in the earth’s crust which makes up a very, very tiny percentage of the Earth as a whole.
3 – Aluminum (Approximate Percentage by weight: 8.1%)
Some of this list are rare and precious, but others are used in everyday things. In fact, you might well have consumed some of them today!
2 – Silicon (Approximate Percentage by weight: 27.7%)
Some of these elements are found combined with other elements as compounds (A compound is multiple elements joined together).
1 – Oxygen (Approximate Percentage by weight: 46.6%)
Not only part of the Earth’s crust, these elements they are the basic building blocks of pretty much everything around us!
