iPhone 6: The Chemistry Behind the Smartphone

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have smashed all previous pre-order records since being unveiled by Apple last week, with widespread excitement about the device's new screen, better battery, A8 processor, and improved camera.

But what exactly goes into the creation of the world's most talked about smartphone?

The American Chemical Society has decided to answer this question with a new video that reveals the chemical elements found inside Apple's latest iPhone.

The video reveals that the iPhone 6, like many other high-end smartphones, contains everything from gold to arsenic.

"The gold and silver used to manufacture phones this year alone are worth more than $2.5 billion," the video states.

"It may look just like a piece of glass, but that smartphone screen actually contains some of the rarest elements on earth.

"Very small quantities of things you've probably never heard of like praesodymium, terbium, yttrium and gadolinium help produce the colours on a smartphone's screen."

Dozens of other more familiar chemicals are also used in the make up of the smartphone, including sapphire for the Touch ID button, and oxygen and tin for the transparent film on the screen.

These conductive elements are vital for the touchscreen to function, as modern displays rely on the electricity generated from skin. This also explains why wearing gloves makes using a smartphone impossible.