How much would it cost to buy a one gram sample of every element on the periodic table?

It is impossible to obtain one gram samples of many of the elements in the periodic table, particularly the most recently discovered ones, the transactinide elements (atomic numbers 104 and up) since these elements are so radioactive, with such short half-lives, and must be synthesized in very powerful cyclotrons ("atom-smashers") and only a few atoms of these elements are created at a time. They are identified by the particles and energies they release when they decay. No macroscopic quantities (visible to the naked eye) of these elements, even in microgram amounts, has ever been created, nor is it likely to happen in the foreseeable future, given the severe technological limitations associated with the synthesis of these elements.

About $16 trillion, which is the cost of 1 gram of polonium based on these two articles:

https://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele084.html
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/polonium-is-costly-undetectable-trillion-times-more-toxic-than-cyanide/article18179025/

Even the tens of millions you'd need for the rare actinides is like a margin of error compared to that. (I'm working out a full list anyway though.)

$16,000,380,209,200.2842

So here is a more detailed version. There are a lot of more practical considerations to consider, like

a) Preparation and transportation costs for the more dangerous ones.
b) You can't necessarily get everything this cheap due to many of the metals being at bulk rates. I know from looking on ebay that you'd have to spend a lot more than the listed price for a sample of pure tungsten, for example. When a price vs a bulk price was given, I used the non-bulk price.
c) You need special clearances for things like plutonium.
d) A few micrograms of polonium are incredibly deadly, a whole 1 g would be insane, so the price shouldn't be a surprise.
e) Some of them, while purchasable at small amounts, do not necessarily have as much as 1 g available. For example, a grand total of 0.66 g of berkelium was made over the course of 16 years (1966 - 1983). Requesting a full gram of it might cause other unique issues.
f) Some elements essentially cost nothing, depending in part on how pure you want them to be.
g) Different websites are giving very different prices for things like the lanthanides. I picked what seem to be the most up-to-date prices.

Of those elements that CAN be purchased in some way or another, the prices per gram are:

99 & above: unobtainable

98 - Californium - $60 million (cheapest isotope)
http://www.osti.gov/scitech/servlets/purl/15053

97 - Berkelium - $160 million
http://www.3rd1000.com/elements/Berkelium.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkelium#Synthesis_and_extraction

96 - Curium - $160 million (cheapest isotope)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prices_of_chemical_elements

95 - Americium - $1500 (most commonly cited cost)
https://www.chemicool.com/elements/americium.html

94 - Plutonium - $4000
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2008/AndrewMorel.shtml

93 - Neptunium - $660
http://www.chemistry.pomona.edu/chemistry/periodic_table/Elements/Neptunium/the%20facts.htm

92 - Uranium - $0.07
For this one, it seems that U3O8 is what's available. Considering that it's $25.75/lb and 85% U, I did conversions to get to that.
http://www.uranium.info/

91 - Protactinium - $280
http://www.chemicool.com/elements/protactinium.html

90 - Thorium - $5.29
https://www.aqua-calc.com/calculate/materials-price

89 - Actinium (not available)
Some sites are saying $100 per gram but they look suspect, most say not available.

88 - Radium - $100,000
https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/the-leaden-box-and-the-gram-of-radium-musée-curie/vAJyom1aXb5nJw?hl=en

87 - Francium - (essentially nonexistent)

86 - Radon - $102,000
There are extremely conflicting results on the cost of radon and it's not clear what units most of them are supposed to represent. So for this, I assume you take radium-223 and let it decay to radon-219 (half-life is 11.43 days), adjusting the price of radium accordingly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium

85 - Astatine - (essentially nonexistent)

84 - Polonium - $16,000,000,000,000
http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele084.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/polonium-is-costly-undetectable-trillion-times-more-toxic-than-cyanide/article18179025/
Converted cost from microcuries to grams according to these two. Polonium is incredibly deadly in extremely small quantities.

83 - Bismuth - $0.39
https://bismuth-tristanrhee.weebly.com/uses-cost-and-facts.html

82 - Lead - $ 0.002
http://www.infomine.com/investment/metal-prices/

81 - Thallium - $30.85
http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/thallium/thallmcs07.pdf

80 - Mercury - $0.017
http://www.chemistry.pomona.edu/chemistry/periodic_table/Elements/Thallium/thallium.htm

79 - Gold - $43
https://www.google.com/search?q=price+of+gold
The price of gold changes constantly (most prices do but few are as available as gold is), so I rounded to the nearest dollar.

78 - Platinum - $34
https://www.google.com/search?q=price+of+platinum
As with gold.

77 - Iridium - $196
https://www.metalary.com/iridium-price/
As with gold. (1 troy ounce equals 31.1 grams)

76 - Osmium - $13
https://www.thoughtco.com/osmium-prices-2011-2012-2339901l
As with gold.

75 - Rhenium - $8.03
https://www.radiochemistry.org/periodictable/elements/75.html
As with gold

74 - Tungsten - $0.05
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Tungsten-Carbide-Carbide-Blanks-K10-Tungsten_62567251801.html?spm=a2700.7724857.normal_offer.d_title.2cc62fbfT1Tpyz&s=p

73 - Tantalum - $5.95
https://www.albmaterials.com/knowledge/blog/how-much-does-tantalum-cost-per-1-gram.html

72 - Hafnium - $1
http://www.kitco.com/ind/Albrecht/2015-03-11-Weak-Zirconium-Demand-Depleting-Hafnium-Stock-Piles.html

71 - Lutetium - $6
https://luciteria.com/elements-for-sale/buy-lutetium

70 - Ytterbium - $3.00
https://luciteria.com/elements-for-sale/buy-ytterbium

69 - Thulium - $5.00
https://luciteria.com/elements-for-sale/buy-thulium

68 - Erbium - $0.65
https://www.chemicool.com/elements/erbium.html

67 - Holmium - $4.00
https://luciteria.com/elements-for-sale/buy-holmium

66 - Dysprosium - $3.50
https://luciteria.com/elements-for-sale/buy-dysprosium

65 - Terbium - $6.00
https://luciteria.com/elements-for-sale/terbium-metal-999-pieces

64 - Gadolinium - $0.12
https://www.chemicool.com/elements/gadolinium.html

63 - Europium - $19.90
https://www.amazon.com/Europium-Element-Sample-Inside-Labeled/dp/B082GZHT7D

62 - Samarium - $3.70
https://www.amazon.com/99-5-Samarium-Pieces-Element-Sample/dp/B07DQNBM6T

61 - Promethium - $193.90
https://www.novaelements.com/promethium/

60 - Neodymium - $8.99
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-gram-Neodymium-metal-element-60-sample-Nd-pieces-99-9-in-labeled-glass-vial-/331796204621

(it wouldn't let me add everything to one post)

59 - Praseodymum - $0.103
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prices_of_chemical_elements
(Scroll down to #59, divide price by 1,000)

58 - Cerium - $8.00
https://www.amazon.com/Cerium-Earth-Metal-Element-Collection/dp/B071SJ9MQ4

57 - Lanthanum - $8.00
https://www.amazon.com/Lanthanum-Metal-99-7-Pure-Gram/dp/B071G5562R

56 - Barium - $5.00
https://luciteria.com/elements-for-sale/buy-barium-metal

55 - Caesium - $4.50 (average)
http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/cesium/200397.pdf

54 - Xenon - $1.20
http://www.chemicool.com/elements/xenon.html

53 - Iodine - $0.083
http://www.chemicool.com/elements/iodine.html

52 - Tellurium - $0.24
http://physicalsciencetellurium.weebly.com/facts.html

51 - Antimony - $0.045
https://www.hobart.k12.in.us/ksms/PeriodicTable/antimony.htm

50 - Tin - $0.019
http://www.infomine.com/investment/metal-prices/

49 - Indium - $2.50 (average)
http://www.chemistry.pomona.edu/Chemistry/periodic_table/Elements/Indium/indium.htm

48 - Cadmium - $0.06
https://www.hobart.k12.in.us/ksms/PeriodicTable/cadmium.htm

47 - Silver - $0.63
https://taxfreegold.co.uk/silverpricesusdollars.html
As with gold.

46 - Palladium - $22
https://taxfreegold.co.uk/palladiumpricesusdollars.html
As with gold.

45 - Rhodium - $22
https://taxfreegold.co.uk/rhodiumpricesusdollars.html
As with gold.

44 - Ruthenium - $1.50
https://taxfreegold.co.uk/rutheniumpricesusdollars.html
As with gold.

43 - Technetium - $60
https://www.hobart.k12.in.us/ksms/PeriodicTable/technetium.htm
http://www.chlive.org/dnemerofsky/elements/Tc/Tc.htm

42 - Molybdenum - $0.044
http://www.chemicool.com/elements/molybdenum.html

41 - Niobium - $0.18
http://www.chemicool.com/elements/niobium.html

40 - Zirconium - $1.50
http://www.chemistry.pomona.edu/chemistry/periodic_table/elements/zirconium/zirconium.htm

39 - Yttrium - $2.65
http://www.chemistry.pomona.edu/chemistry/periodic_table/elements/yttrium/yttrium.htm

38 - Strontium - $1
http://www.chemicool.com/elements/strontium.html

37 - Rubidium - $25
https://www.hobart.k12.in.us/ksms/PeriodicTable/rubidium.htm

36 - Krypton - $0.33
http://www.chemicool.com/elements/krypton.html

35 - Bromine - $0.05
http://www.chemicool.com/elements/bromine.html

34 - Selenium - $0.66
http://www.radiochemistry.org/periodictable/elements/34.html

33 - Arsenic - $3.20
http://www.chemicool.com/elements/arsenic.html

32 - Germanium - $3
http://www.radiochemistry.org/periodictable/elements/32.html

31 - Gallium - $2.20
http://www.chemicool.com/elements/gallium.html

(When recalculating current prices it was necessary to move some of Nautilator's work here.)

30 - Zinc - $0.002
link http://www.infomine.com/investment/metal-prices/

29 - Copper - $0.0032
link http://www.infomine.com/investment/metal-prices/
While copper costs $2.10 per pound at the moment, a pre-1982 American cent is readily available and contains 3.1 g of it. This cuts a whole $0.002 off the total cost.

28 - Nickel - $0.0085
link http://www.infomine.com/investment/metal-prices/
Like copper, but older Canadian nickels have more than their value in nickel. Otherwise it's about $4.50 per pound ot $0.01 per gram.

27 - Cobalt - $0.025
link http://www.infomine.com/investment/metal-prices/

26 - Iron - $0.047 (for pure iron, steel is much less)
link http://www.chemicool.com/elements/iron.html

25 - Manganese - $0.002
link http://www.infomine.com/investment/metal-prices/

24 - Chromium - $0.32
link http://www.chemicool.com/elements/chromium.html

23 - Vanadium - $0.045
link http://www.radiochemistry.org/periodictable/elements/23.html
I used the 95% pure value, because I thought that's good enough. The 99.9% is quite a bit more.

22 - Titanium - $6.60
link http://www.chemicool.com/elements/titanium.html

21 - Scandium - $270
link http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele021.html

20 - Calcium - $0.20
link http://www.chemicool.com/elements/calcium.html

19 - Potassium - $1
link http://www.chemicool.com/elements/potassium.html

18 - Argon - $0.005
link https://www.hobart.k12.in.us/ksms/PeriodicTable/argon.htm

17 - Chlorine - $0.0015
link http://www.chemicool.com/elements/chlorine.html

16 - Sulfur - $0.50
link http://www.chemicool.com/elements/sulfur.html

15 - Phosphorus - $0.30
link http://www.chemicool.com/elements/phosphorus.html

14 - Silicon - $0.50
link http://www.radiochemistry.org/periodictable/elements/14.html

13 - Aluminum - $0.002
link http://www.infomine.com/investment/metal-prices/

12 - Magnesium - $0.002
link http://www.infomine.com/investment/metal-prices/

11 - Sodium - $0.25
link http://www.chemicool.com/elements/sodium.html
(for pure sodium, otherwise you could just get it from salt)

10 - Neon - $0.33
link http://www.chemicool.com/elements/neon.html

9 - Fluorine - $1.90
link http://www.chemicool.com/elements/fluorine.html
Keep in mind that pure fluorine is extremely dangerous and needs to be stored in heavy wax to keep from reacting.

8 - Oxygen - $0.003
link http://www.chemicool.com/elements/oxygen.html
This assumes you don't feel like hydrolyzing it from water. Either way, it's nearly nothing.

7 - Nitrogen - $0.004
link https://www.hobart.k12.in.us/ksms/PeriodicTable/nitrogen.htm
Much like oxygen. Since air is 78% nitrogen you could always claim you have it, but you can get pure, liquid nitrogen if you wanted.

6 - Carbon - $0.024
link http://www.chemicool.com/elements/carbon.html
This seems to be if you go out of your way to get some. You could easily get carbon from graphite/pencils, for example. Or you could get the diamond allotrope, which will cost quite a bit more.

5 - Boron - $5
link http://www.rareearth.org/boron_properties.htm
Note: results are fairly conflicting for boron.

4 - Beryllium - $0.51
link http://moneyweek.com/money-morning-metals-beryllium-11607/

3 - Lithium - $0.27
link http://www.chemicool.com/elements/lithium.html

2 - Helium - $0.175
link https://www.hobart.k12.in.us/ksms/PeriodicTable/helium.htm
$.0375 per 1 ft^3 * 0.0283 m^3/ft^3 * 0.164 kg/m^3 * 1000 g/1 kg

1 - Hydrogen - $1
link https://www.hobart.k12.in.us/ksms/PeriodicTable/hydrogen.htm
As with oxygen, you could just hydrolyze water for hydrogen.


If you add up all the relatively cheap ones (less than $1000 each), you get $1700.2842

Add in americium and plutonium, $7200.2842

Add in radon and radium, $209,200.2842

Add in californium, berkelium, and curium, $380,209,200.2842

Add in polonium, $16,000,380,209,200.2842

Yeah, that went up pretty fast.