Elements at Walmart (31)

It's amazing how many elements you can buy in reasonably pure form at Walmart: My list currently contains 31 elements. (When I say "Walmart" I really mean any combination of grocery store, hardware store, and pharmacy. Walmart just happens to be the most common and most diverse store most people in the US would be familiar with.) To get on this list, an element has to be available in such a store in reasonably pure form, not in an alloy or compound. Platings (e.g. chrome plating) do count, and in some cases it may be necessary to dig the element out from inside a consumer product. Note that if you look at any individual element, I may not have actually gotten the sample from Walmart, and the sample might not even be of the kind of thing you can actually get there. I hope to have such samples filled in eventually.

Click any element tile below to get the full entry for that element, or click on the sample picture to go directly to the description of that sample.

Text and images Copyright (c) 2010 by Theodore W. Gray.
Previous  Next  Page: 1 2
Helium
Helium Disposable party balloon tank
Party balloons and home-use helium tanks

Source: Walmart
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 7 August, 2002
Price: $20
Size: 18"
Purity: >90%
Lithium
Lithium Long-life AA battery
Photo batteries

Source: Radio Shack
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 7 August, 2002
Price: $3
Size: 2"
Purity: <5%
Carbon
Carbon Graphite rod from lantern battery
Electrodes in standard batteries, charcoal

Source: Hardware Store
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 15 April, 2002
Price: $5/battery with 4 of them
Size: 3"
Purity: >95%
Oxygen
Oxygen Mini welding gas cylinder
Brazing torch cylinders (maybe a stretch at Walmart, but any hardware store will have it)

Source: Hardware Store
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 5 August, 2002
Text Updated: 20 November, 2008
Price: $5
Size: 12"
Purity: >95%
Nitrogen
Nitrogen
I have read that certain refrigerated foods are packaged under nitrogen, but have not confirmed this definitively.

Neon
Neon
Novelty lamps, indicator lights on many products

Magnesium
Magnesium Camp fire starter
Camp fire starters

Source: Walmart
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 15 April, 2002
Price: $4
Size: 3"
Purity: 97.2%
Aluminum
Aluminum
Pans, and thousands of other items

Silicon
Silicon Silicon wafer
Any toy with a chip in it

Source: The Tech Museum, San Jose, California
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 15 April, 2002
Price: $20/unbroken wafer
Size: 1.5"
Purity: 99.9999%
Sulfur
Sulfur Flowers of sulfur
In the pharmacy

Source: Walgreens Pharmacy
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 18 April, 2002
Text Updated: 16 March, 2007
Price: $2
Size: 2.5"
Purity: >95%
Sample Group: Powders+Medical
Argon
Argon Ordinary light bulb
Ordinary light bulbs

Source: Theodore Gray
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 15 April, 2002
Price: Donated
Size: 1.5"
Purity: >90%
Sample Group: Light Bulbs
Titanium
Titanium
Camping and bicycle parts

Chromium
Chromium
Plating on many shiny items

Iron
Iron
Nails, etc.

Nickel
Nickel
Plating on many shiny items

Copper
Copper 3/0 electrical wire
Wire

Source: Hardware Store
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 15 April, 2002
Price: $1.50/foot
Size: 1.25"
Purity: >99%
Zinc
Zinc
Galvanized steel items

Krypton
Krypton Flashlight bulb
Flashlight bulbs

Source: Hardware Store
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 10 May, 2002
Price: $2
Size: 0.75"
Purity: >90%
Niobium
Niobium Barbell Enslaved
Body jewelry, earrings (probably varies store to store)

Source: eBay seller pinta-beads
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 10 July, 2002
Text Updated: 11 March, 2007
Price: $10
Size: 1"
Purity: >80%
Sample Group: Medical
Ruthenium
Ruthenium Necklace with ruthenium beads
Plating on jewelry (pewter-colored)

Source: eBay seller shiningjewel
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 14 February, 2003
Price: $45/necklace
Size: 0.15"
Purity: 99%
Previous  Next  Page: 1 2