Why It Takes 75 Elements To Make Your Cell Phone
Turns out there are some pretty rare elements in your smartphone. How rare are they and what are they doing in your phone?
That smartphone in your pocket is an incredibly complex little rectangle. The various components required to make a cell phone work come from all over the world. In fact, the typical modern smartphone uses 75 of the 118 base elements on the periodic table. By comparison, the human body only needs about 30 functional elements.
Phones need a good deal of silicon in the microchips, of course, plus aluminum in the casing and lithium in the batteries. They also require several several rare earth elements, which are notoriously difficult to mine and have led to exploitative industry practices. In today's DNews report, Trace Dominguez takes a closer look at what's in your smartphone - literally.
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