Watch: What happens when a scientist blends smartphone

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Watch: What happens when a scientist blends smartphone
Watch: What happens when a scientist blends smartphone

New Delhi : Scientists from a British University conducted a unique experiment to analyse the material that go into the making of a smartphone. For this, they blended a couple of devices in a high-tech gadget - a blender. Scientists at the University of Plymouth blended a mobile phone to dust and then conducted a chemical analysis of the dissolved remains in order to figure out what quantities of rare or conflict elements go into making a phone.

"Project aims to show the quantities of rare or so-called 'conflict' elements in each phone and encourage greater recycling rates," wrote the University of Plymouth, sharing a video of the phone being blended.

"To conduct the experiment, the researchers took the blended phone and mixed it at almost 500 degrees Celsius with a powerful oxidizer, sodium peroxide. They were then able to do a detailed analysis of the resulting solution in acid to determine its precise chemical contents," they added.


In the findings, the scientists found that the smartphones blended during the experiment contained 33g of iron, 13g of silicon, and 7g of chromium, along with 90mg of silver and 36mg of gold. Researchers also found a number of "critical elements" including 900mg of tungsten and 70mg of cobalt and molybdenum, as well as 160mg of neodymium and 30mg of praseodymium.