• Question: What is the lightest material ever created?

    Asked by crouchingmurloc to Ben, Dave, Ed, Sam, Susana on 17 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Benjamin Hall

      Benjamin Hall answered on 17 Jun 2013:

      Well the lightest element is Hydrogen and Hydrogen can be ‘created’ through various chemical reactions.

      But if we go even smaller then sub-atomic particles which have no mass have been ‘created’. It really depends on what you define as a material.

    • Photo: Sam Horrell

      Sam Horrell answered on 17 Jun 2013:

      Moving away from the atomic and sub atomic level I believe carbon fiber is a very common light weight material. It is exactly how it sounds, just strings of carbon atoms that are woven together then coated in a stiff plastic. It’s five times as strong as steel, but weighs two thirds less so is perfect for building things like F1 cars which need to be both very light weight but also very strong.

    • Photo: David Briggs

      David Briggs answered on 17 Jun 2013:

      The lightest material ever created is called Aerogel. (I may have spelt this wrong). NASA used it to capture space dust particles in a space probe called “Stardust.”

    • Photo: Susana Teixeira

      Susana Teixeira answered on 17 Jun 2013:

      Carbon aerogel maybe? Spider web silk is also a very impressive one: not heavy yet strong and flexible at the same time!

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