Anthony Huhman, age 14, of Okeene, Oklahoma, for his question:

Where is lithium found?

Lithium was discovered in 1817 and later found to be lightest of the earth's solid elements. The soft silvery metal is a little more than half the weight of water. A piece of it will float on a film of oil petroleum that is already floating on water. When sliced, it reveals cut surfaces of lustrous silver gray, but the shiny sides soon tarnish to drab, dull gray in the air. Lithium is an extremely reactive element and is never found in nature 1n its pure form. However, it is not scarce. Lithium rates as the 26th most plentiful element of the 90 or so elements found in the earth's crust. It is almost as common as copper and a lot more abundant than tin.

Our supplies of lithium are extracted from ores such as pegmatite. This igneous rock is a coarse grained type of granite found in countless deposits around the world. It is a blend of many substances such as mica, silica and usually other metals besides lithium. Traces of lithium also are found in plant greenery, in milk, in your own blood stream and in most ground water. Industry finds uses for lithium in manufacturing fine china and fungicides, bleaches and medicines and our plentiful deposits of peg¬matite provide an adequate supply for these needs.