ELI5 Titanium - why is it the metal most used in surgeries?

Why did the CIA secretly buy Soviet metal to build the very plane designed to spy on them? How does a metal named after Greek Titans manage to fuse physically with living human bone? If titanium is the ninth-most abundant element on Earth, why is it still so expensive to produce? And how did common chlorinated tap water nearly destroy the manufacturing of the world’s fastest titanium jet? ... we explain like I'm five Thank you to the r/explainlikeimfive community and in particular the following users whose questions and comments formed the basis of this discussion: mattau93, bigaddam, barath_s, icowboy, justscottaustin, 1fresco, qininator and cheapseats91 To the ELI5 community that has supported us so far, thanks for all your feedback and comments. Join us on Twitter: or send us an e-mail: ELI5ThePodcast@gmail.com

You can listen to ELI5 Titanium - why is it the metal most used in surgeries? online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

ELI5 Titanium - why is it the metal most used in surgeries? is an episode from Explain Like I'm 5: Bite sized answers to stuff you should know about - in a mini podcast by ELI5 Explain Like I'm Five Podcast.

This episode is 8:25 long.

This episode was published on Jan 2, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Explain Like I'm 5: Bite sized answers to stuff you should know about - in a mini podcast when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.