Why are most elements not found in free state in nature?

Answer 1

Each element has unique chemical and physical properties and because of this elements vary in how reactive they are. They differ in how easily they combine with other elements that they come into contact with (forming compounds like water, mineral ores, salt, etc).

Where you find elements in a pure form, uncombined with other elements, you will either notice that one or more of the following are true:

• The element has very low chemical reactivity and does not readily combine with other elements. Examples include gold, the noble gases (helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon), group 10 elements (nickel, palladium, and platinum).
• In extreme conditions or the in remnants of extreme conditions. Elements combining together to form compounds is like a rock rolling down hill, energy is lost the further it rolls down (and as a consequence more and more energy would be required to roll it back up to the top of the hill where it started). For example when iron combines with oxygen (rust) a small amount of heat is released. To turn the rust back into iron you'd need to apply heat (smelting). For this reason as time goes by, we see far more elements combine together than we see split apart and after billions of years you have what we see now, a planetary crust mostly composed of compounds, pure not elements. But places where conditions are extreme (either very hot which supplies the energy to reduce compounds, or very cold where chemical reactions are much slower such as outerspace) you are more likely to find elements in their pure form. You can also find them in places that were extreme at one time, such as kimberlite pipes where there was once a volcano and you can find diamonds (pure carbon).
• Man-made (synthetic) elements do not normally occur in quantity in nature (on Earth), so they are found neither in pure nor combined forms. Over geologic time, the reason these elements aren't found is because they are unstable and decay into simpler elements, often over a time scale of seconds or less. There are a few unstable elements that are found in nature though, such as uranium and radon (their half-lives are reasonably long, for example 68 years for uranium) .
• Lastly you may also find pure form elements in environments where there simply isn't enough reagent for them to immediately form compounds with. Especially when biological or geological processes regularly produce more of the free element, such as with plants and oxygen. For example ocean water usually free oxygen dissolved in it, but in an algal bloom enough reactant is provided by decaying algae to consume almost all available oxygen. This creates a dead zone where for a short period few organisms can survive.

In layman's terms you could think of the elements as having personalities, some elements are very gregarious and outgoing, easily making friends with almost anyone they meet. Most are more guarded, and while certainly willing to make friends, are more selective about who they befriend. While a few are quite antisocial and almost never make friends (and only under extreme circumstances). You could look at those personalities and make predictions about how many friends each will have. Low reactivity elements are like the last group, much more likely to be found all by themselves while the rest will be found with their friends.

Answer 2

Most elements have what is known as a combining capacity, which means that they will combine with other elements - for example Iron ( Fe ) will gladly combine with Oxygen and Oxidize, thus rusting, its still Iron but its now ferrous oxide. Silicone will also form SiO2 which is your typical sand aka Silica.

Therefore, due to high presence of oxygen and other elements on earth, the chances of finding pure elements is very rare, there are very few elements which can be or exist in pure states. Such as the noble gases, which do not like to combine ( He/Ne/Ar/Kr/Xe ).

Answer 3

most elements have partly filled orbitals (or shells) and they try to gain, lose or share electrons so as to satisfy octet rule.

Hence they are reactive and not generally found in free state

Answer 4

Most elements are not found in their free state in nature because they tend to form chemical bonds with other elements to achieve a more stable electron configuration. This binding allows elements to form compounds and contribute to the diversity of substances present in the environment.