How many natural occurring elements in the world?

Answer 1

Exactly 90 that we know of. All the elements 1-92, or Hydrogen (H) through Uranium (U) are natural, with the exception of element 61, Promethium (Pm), and element number 43, Technetium (Tc). Everything past Uranium can only be created through synthetic means.

Answer 2

It is often wrongly claimed that there are 92 naturally occurring elements - up to uranium, and that the trans-uranium elements are all man-made.

From this, some argued that there are only 90 because technetium and promethium are not naturally occurring. Indeed, the name technetium is derived from the fact that it was only mad-made. Or so it was thought. Actually, technetium has no stable isotopes, but it can be found in uranium ores (pitchblende).

Natural promethium is extremely rare. You would need a million tonnes of uranium ore to obtain a few micrograms of promethium - so it does occur naturally.

Moreover, although the trans-uranium elements were all originally man-made, six of them have been subsequently found to occur in nature - in very small quantities in pitchblende. These are neptunium, plutonium, americium, curium, berkelium, and californium.

Therefore, the true count is 98 elements.

Answer 3

Now 98 chemical elements are considered as natural.