@clova-nova @communist-mannyfesto
The more that I think about it the more I realize this probably wasn't a USA only problem it's more of a nuclear arms race problem but let's be honest at least half the blame for that is because of the USA.
So basically you know how when you're in high school chem you come across the concept of Average Atomic Mass, which you might also know as Atomic Weight? Each chemical element has one - you'll find it in the periodic table. It tells you how heavy an atom of Hydrogen is compared to that of, say, Carbon. (On average of course. An atom of Ā¹Ā²C isotope is gonna be lighter than one that's a Ā¹Ā³C isotope. We'll get to that)
Well, if you look up the atomic weight of Lithium in any up to date periodic table, you'll see a difference between it and other elements.
That's right, it's weirdly so imprecise compared to other elements. Just 3 digits, while for the others, even though they abridge them to 5 digits here, they can usually narrow it down way more. So why do we have such an imprecise idea of what the atomic weight of lithium is? That's because of the Nuclear Arms Race.
So basically when the US, followed by other countries, were developing and stockpiling hydrogen bombs, they realized that they can utilize that One Weird Trickā¢ that Lithium does where it's particularly good at absorbing neutrons and making Tritium (...I think? don't quote on this, i didn't really grasp the nuclear physics of it). But the thing is, this only works for the isotope, ā¶Li.
So the people who were making these bombs got a lot of Lithium. Then, they used separation procedures to make their desired samples enriched with ā¶Li. Now they have what they need to make enough god damn bombs to end civilization hundreds of times over. Hooray.
But what do they do with the wasted Lithium? The lithium which is now sans a lot of ā¶Li and has more ā·Li than normal? Well, it's still pure lithium, so we'll just distribute them to be sold as chemical supplies. Without telling people where they came from. Cause making world ending bombs was Top Secret.
So now there's this huge supply of Lithium being used by everybody which unbeknownst to anybody has been depleted of ā¶Li, and thus doesn't have the right atomic weight anymore. We eventually found out about it, but by then it had gradually made its way everywhere and now you can't tell just by looking how much of your Lithium is from an old stock that's been depleted of ā¶Li.
And that's why we can't really have a very precise figure on the atomic weight of lithium. It could be ā¶Li-depleted, it could be not, could be half and half. Who knows. You better buy the overpriced ones from the fancy chemical supplies store so you can ask how they sourced it.
So now, we're CURSED with having only 3 digits in the atomic weight of Lithium. All because people wanted to make world ending bombs. Smh
My source for this is the DeGruyter article by Norman Holden. You can download the PDF for free here.
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