Introduction
Tungsten, or Wolfram as it is called in other parts of the world,
is a cubic transition metal with colors ranging from steel-gray to
tin-white.
Discovered by Juan José and Fausto d’Elhuyar, Spanish chemists
and brothers, in the year 1783 in Vergara, Spain, tungsten has
grown to be mass-produced in countries such as China, Malaysia, Burma, Bolivia, Canada,
Australia, Japan and the USA, which are abundant in
Name
Tungsten or
it.
Wolfram
Element Symbol
The Naming of Tungsten
The word Tungsten is derived from the Swedish phrase
tungs ten, meaning heavy stone.
Tungsten’s other name, Wolfram, is derived from the
German phrase “wolf rahm” which means wolf dirt,
which is derived again from the word “wolframite”,
which means devourer of tin, because it was able to “eat
through tin.
Around the world, different forms of the word tungsten
or wolfram are used. Take a look at this table to see
tungsten in a variety of languages.
Latin
Czech
Croatian
French
German
Indonesian
Chinese
Korean
Wolframium
Wolfram
Volfram
Tungsténe
Wolfram
Wolfram
钨
텅스텐
Italian
Wolframio
Norwegian Wolfram
Portuguese Tungstênio
Spanish
Wolframio
Swedish
Volfram
Malay
Wolfram
Wu
Japanese
Teong-seu-ten
Greek
W (from
Wolfram)
Atomic Number
74
Atomic Weight
183.85 amu*
Melting Point
3695 K
(3422°C or
6192°F)
Boiling Point
5828 K
(5555°C or
6192°F)
Element Type
Transition
Metal
Structure
Cubic
Color
Steel-gray to
tin-white
Density
19.3g/cm3
Period, Group
6,6
*=Atomic Mass Unit = 1.66053886 x
1027 kilograms
タングステン
Βολφραμιο
Ta-n-gu-su-te-n
Volframio
Discovery and Cultivation
Tungsten was originally discovered when the d’Elhuyar brothers did a series of tests on samples
of the chemical compound Wolframite ((Fe,Mn)WO4).
Today, world-class tungsten industries still make use of the way the d’Elhuyar brothers did.
First, Wolframite ((Fe,Mn)WO4) or Scheelite (CaWO4) is crushed, cleaned and treated with
alkalis to produce Wolfram-trioxide (WO3). Then, Wolfram-trioxide is heated along with either
hydrogen gas or carbon to successfully isolate tungsten metal.
Abundance
Being quite abundant, tungsten is a major industrial metal. Tungsten is most
abundant in the Earth’s crust as compared to seawater and the atmosphere,
thus most of the cultivation of Wolframite is taken from the Earth’s Crust.
A Picture showing the
way electrons are
arranged in a Tungsten
atom. It also shows the
electron shell diagram of
a tungsten atom and the
electron configuration,
2,8,18,32,12,2.
In the Earth’s Crust, tungsten exists at 160.6ppm (parts per million). That
can be considered quite abundant as there are other elements which exist
only at 50ppm or 60ppm. In the atmosphere, tungsten exists at 411ppm and
last but not least (well actually, very least), in seawater, tungsten exists at a
minute 9.2 x 10-5ppm.
Uses
Because of its high melting point, tungsten is used in various places in the electronics industry.
Firstly, the everyday light bulb makes use of tungsten as its
filament. The filament lights up because the tungsten get hotter
and hotter. If the filament were to be something other than
tungsten, then the light bulb would easily blow because other
metals might not be able to stand the heat created when a certain
amount of electricity passes.
Secondly, the nozzles of rockets also use tungsten because of the same reason. Tungsten has the
highest melting point. If other metals were put as nozzles, the nozzles would burn before even
reaching outer space.
Thirdly, tungsten is used in tips of drill-bits, high-speed cutting tools and in mining machinery.
Again, tungsten is used because of its heat advantage. When
the blades of these tools turn very quickly and touch the
surface of another object, it becomes really hot and sharp,
and thus cuts through the object. If other metals were put in
this position, they would have melted or broke after a while
during cutting.
There are still other uses of tungsten, for its potential is not
yet fully harnessed. Perhaps in the near future, tungsten will be used more often.
Hazardous Effects
Although tungsten can be very useful, as we have discussed, it can also be hazardous. The
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (United States), which is responsible for
developing recommended health and safety standards, said that the maximum exposure to
tungsten is 5mg/m3 for people who work with tungsten at an 8 hour per day, 40 hour per week
basis. Any amount of exposure greater than this can lead to health problems.
Prolonged exposure to high concentrations of tungsten can lead to acute health effects by
certain routes of exposure. Irritation to the skin and eyes come from skin and/or eye contact and
irritation to the lungs and mucus membrane come from inhalation.
On contact, tungsten can make the eyes watery and red and
and also the skin red, scaly and itchy. As tungsten can react,
always wear protective equipment and follow safe hygiene
practices when handling tungsten compounds as they are
highly toxic and presents a fire and explosion hazard.
Not only does tungsten present a hazard to humans, it can
also make animals sick with a few sicknesses such as anorexia, colic, incoordination of
movements, trembling, dysprea and weight loss.
Thankfully, tungsten has NO effects of hazard on the environment, therefore the environment is
not hurt by tungsten or it chemical compounds.
Interesting Facts about Tungsten
There are lots of interesting facts about tungsten, listed here are just a few.
Firstly, tungsten mixed with calcium or magnesium will create phosphors (chemical compounds
that glow due to energized particles in them) that are blue and
pale blue respectively.
Secondly, tungsten mixed with carbon will create tungstencarbide (WC), which can be crated into rings.
Thirdly, tungsten may be hard, but when cracked, it becomes
brittle and soft to cut through.
Lastly, tungsten has the highest melting point among metals and so it is used for a lot of objects
or tools that are frequently exposed to high heats.
Bibliography
Information
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<http://environmentalchemistry.com/yogi/periodic/W.html>
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Pictures
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m>.
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<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Electric_bulb_filament.jpg>.
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<http://www.darchyi.com/photo_eng.asp?id=27890>.
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