
115
MELTING POINT
BOILING POINT
DENSITY
Zirconium shines as brightly as any diamond
if processed correctly (as cubic zirconia). It
can also be made into a rust-free ceramic
material that’s harder than steel if it’s oxi-
dized, ground into a powder, and sintered.
These advanced ceramics can be used for
creating useful household tools such as scis-
sors and kitchen knives, as well as in more
exotic applications like spacecraft and jet
engines.
DIAMONDS FOR EVERYONE!
DISCOVERY YEAR: 1789
Transition
metal
Multipurpose
In teeth
Almost
indistinguishable
from real diamonds
Atomic reactors
Solid
Knives and
scissors
Ceramics
Very
hard and
doesn’t
rust
Here too