Unobtainium Why?

[Soushi]

If you've seen Avatar you know that the corporation was their to mine for a shiny substance, unobtanium. The thing is that it is never explained (in the movie) why this shiny metal is so damn valuable. So I ask you, what do you think unobtanium does to make it so valuable? I personally think it's a cure to some form of disease, or maybe cancer.

Edit: Unobtanium is worth 20 million dollars a kilogram.

Unobtainium is a term used by aerospace engineers (like myself, a freshman in aerospace engineering) to describe a substance that doesn't exist, is expensive or is not available in high enough quantities, but at the same time is needed for a new design.

In the movie Avatar, unobtainium is a naturally-occuring room temerature super conductor. The properties of said object would be 1) the ability to transfer electric current with 100% effieciency (as opposed to current high-voltage wires which have ~50% effieciency over long distances.) and 2) levitation in a magnetic field. Which is why you see the floating islands, and the floating rock in Selfrige's office.

in short, Unobtainium is a room temperature superconductor. If that existed 20 million per kilo would actually be kinda cheap.

EDIT: yeah it was never explicitly explained in the movie, but from its properties, it's obvious that it is a superconductor

This in full.

The game explains what it is, what its used for and its properites. It is used to levitate some big train on earth where normal magnets would flip the train. The hallelujah mountains float, because when the planet (Or moon if you want to be technically correct) was in a molten state, the unobtanium moved to the surface and the below rock eroded away until they came off, bringing some rock with it. The Arches in the movie/game are also from unobtainium and are structures of unobtanium that were formed within the rock which then eroded away, leaving the arches

okay, so thats how they did it. Huh, and i was having this big argument with my friend a little while back that the mountains floated because they may have been laced with plants that were lighter than air (it didn't make much sense to me either, it was the only thing i could come up with)

 

[IxionIndustries]

It's probably like Tiberium.. Or Timonium.. Or Vespene Gas.. Or Pylons..

I'm not sure what any practical uses for those resources are, but they are extremely valuable..

 

[Silva]

It's mentioned in the movie that the humans come from "a dying world". Which may just mean that they're having a few extra problems on top of what we have now, but yeah, it implies that unobtainium would be either a solution to that crisis, or a way to capitalise on it. Considering the disposition of the mercenaries and corporations on Pandora, I'd say that it's the latter.

That means that it's just a shiny, rare substance that everyone wants to either experiment with to discover new things, or that will solve some energy/food crisis. Or both. Anyway, I'm betting it will be relevant to any sequels that come out. We'll find out then what it really does.

EDIT: Aha, I read above and I see someone who's played the game knows. So it is to do with energy, as expected. I was going to guess a superconductor (basically a really, really awesome battery component), since that's one thing an overpopulated world would have a demand for. The silly thing about it is that I bet the peaceful method would've yielded some unobtainium with enough time - just not all of it, which is fair. But, who ever expected militaristic corporations to be fair?

 

[Foxbat Flyer]

If you've seen Avatar you know that the corporation was their to mine for a shiny substance, unobtanium. The thing is that it is never explained (in the movie) why this shiny metal is so damn valuable. So I ask you, what do you think unobtanium does to make it so valuable? I personally think it's a cure to some form of disease, or maybe cancer.

Edit: Unobtanium is worth 20 million dollars a kilogram.

Unobtainium is a term used by aerospace engineers (like myself, a freshman in aerospace engineering) to describe a substance that doesn't exist, is expensive or is not available in high enough quantities, but at the same time is needed for a new design.

In the movie Avatar, unobtainium is a naturally-occuring room temerature super conductor. The properties of said object would be 1) the ability to transfer electric current with 100% effieciency (as opposed to current high-voltage wires which have ~50% effieciency over long distances.) and 2) levitation in a magnetic field. Which is why you see the floating islands, and the floating rock in Selfrige's office.

in short, Unobtainium is a room temperature superconductor. If that existed 20 million per kilo would actually be kinda cheap.

EDIT: yeah it was never explicitly explained in the movie, but from its properties, it's obvious that it is a superconductor

This in full.

The game explains what it is, what its used for and its properites. It is used to levitate some big train on earth where normal magnets would flip the train. The hallelujah mountains float, because when the planet (Or moon if you want to be technically correct) was in a molten state, the unobtanium moved to the surface and the below rock eroded away until they came off, bringing some rock with it. The Arches in the movie/game are also from unobtainium and are structures of unobtanium that were formed within the rock which then eroded away, leaving the arches

okay, so thats how they did it. Huh, and i was having this big argument with my friend a little while back that the mountains floated because they may have been laced with plants that were lighter than air (it didn't make much sense to me either, it was the only thing i could come up with)

Yeah, its not widely known... I had to read through heaps of stuff in the game to find that out. Glad i did though.

 

[Vigilantis]

When he said it in the movie I facepalmed, Now I find myself doing it again every time someone brings it up...like this thread >.<

 

[Skizle]

There were more important things in the script to write about and explain...even though its the only reason humans are there at all.

 

[Flos]

Or the craziest idea, what if it's a monopole? That would be CRAZY AWESOME!

Maybe that'll go towards explaining those floating mountains. Seriously WTF?

My theory is that the huge gas giant that pandora orbits is pulling the mountains up with it's gravity.

That... that is not how gravity works.

 

[Soushi]

If you've seen Avatar you know that the corporation was their to mine for a shiny substance, unobtanium. The thing is that it is never explained (in the movie) why this shiny metal is so damn valuable. So I ask you, what do you think unobtanium does to make it so valuable? I personally think it's a cure to some form of disease, or maybe cancer.

Edit: Unobtanium is worth 20 million dollars a kilogram.

Unobtainium is a term used by aerospace engineers (like myself, a freshman in aerospace engineering) to describe a substance that doesn't exist, is expensive or is not available in high enough quantities, but at the same time is needed for a new design.

In the movie Avatar, unobtainium is a naturally-occuring room temerature super conductor. The properties of said object would be 1) the ability to transfer electric current with 100% effieciency (as opposed to current high-voltage wires which have ~50% effieciency over long distances.) and 2) levitation in a magnetic field. Which is why you see the floating islands, and the floating rock in Selfrige's office.

in short, Unobtainium is a room temperature superconductor. If that existed 20 million per kilo would actually be kinda cheap.

EDIT: yeah it was never explicitly explained in the movie, but from its properties, it's obvious that it is a superconductor

This in full.

The game explains what it is, what its used for and its properites. It is used to levitate some big train on earth where normal magnets would flip the train. The hallelujah mountains float, because when the planet (Or moon if you want to be technically correct) was in a molten state, the unobtanium moved to the surface and the below rock eroded away until they came off, bringing some rock with it. The Arches in the movie/game are also from unobtainium and are structures of unobtanium that were formed within the rock which then eroded away, leaving the arches

okay, so thats how they did it. Huh, and i was having this big argument with my friend a little while back that the mountains floated because they may have been laced with plants that were lighter than air (it didn't make much sense to me either, it was the only thing i could come up with)

Yeah, its not widely known... I had to read through heaps of stuff in the game to find that out. Glad i did though.

well that explains it, i've never played teh game.

 

[thenoblegaunt]

If you've seen Avatar you know that the corporation was their to mine for a shiny substance, unobtanium. The thing is that it is never explained (in the movie) why this shiny metal is so damn valuable. So I ask you, what do you think unobtanium does to make it so valuable? I personally think it's a cure to some form of disease, or maybe cancer.

Edit: Unobtanium is worth 20 million dollars a kilogram.

Unobtainium in the movie is shown floating, maybe it helps with hover technology on earth.

 

[Raiha]

i saw half of the movie tonight and walked out. good to know they never explained why the fuck humans were on that planet in the first place. i guess its because they needed an excuse to tell the stock holders while they looked at all the pretty colors.

 

[kmiik]

according to wikipedia,
"unobtainium is a concept for any extremely rare, costly, or physically impossible material needed to fulfill a given design for a given application. The properties of any particular unobtainium depend on the intended use. For example, a pulley made of unobtainium might be massless and frictionless. However, if used in a nuclear rocket, unobtainium would be light, strong at high temperatures, and resistant to radiation damage."

so, it seems like Unobtainium is so valuable because it can be ANYTHING you need it to be. It's the Ditto of metals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unobtanium

EDIT: Raiha, you seem to have missed the topic of this thread. Humans were on that planet to mine Unobtainium.

 

[Revolutionary]

I think that its an exaggerated version (metaphor) of oil.

 

[chowderface]

Unobtanium is actually dignity given crystalline form, which should tell you why the megacorps are so desperate to get it.

That's right. The humans are actually a subtle metaphor for us.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Unobtanium makes the impossible possible and can only be bought from the Acme Corporation.

It does sound like something from a Warner Bros cartoon, doesn't it?

 

[Raiha]

yes i know they were on the planet to mine unobtainium. that guy from boiler room said so. however in the first half of the movie that was the one and only mention of this super rare and expensive ugly gray rock that apparently people want just so they can say "ooh look at me i have a super rare and expensive ugly gray rock". i don't think i am being too demanding for the movie to give a reason that humans want this element. i'm not asking for its place on the periodic table, but something more than "they have that, i want it" would be nice.

 

[DoW Lowen]

I don't think you were really meant to know. It's just a name for a rare mineral or resource found in native lands. It could have easily been replaced with oil, plutonium, gold, snicker bars and it wouldn't have affected the plot for even a millisecond.

Don't worry your pretty little heads over it.

 

[Soushi]

i guess the unobtanium would have been why Hometree grew so large too... with it being on a large deposit and all. Particulate would get i nto teh roots, be absorbed into the tree and... viola!
I guess a rock with flaoty powers would be worth 20,000,000 a kilo.

 

[Anticitizen_Two]

The fact that James Cameron named a hard to obtain substance "unobtainium" proves to me that he suffered serious head trauma as a child. Really subtle there, Jimmy.