Tungsten

a-condor (62)in #steemstem • 6 years ago (edited)

TUNGSTEN

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Tungsten is a chemical element with symbol W in the periodic table. The "W" represents Wolfram. The name tungsten is of Swedish origin - tung sten meaning heavy stone.

Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth and is usually in combination with other elements as a compound rather than occurring alone.
It has about 20 ores but the most common ores are wolframite and scheelite. The remaining ores are of little or no economic value.
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Wolframite - iron manganese tungstate ((Fe,Mn)WO4)
Scheelite - calcium tungstate (CaWO4)

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PROPERTIES
Periodic table
Atomic symbol : W
Atomic number : 74
Atomic mass : 183.84
Group : 6
Period : 6
Block : d-block
Category : Transition metals
Electron configuration : [Xe] 4f14 5d4 6s2

Others
Appearance : Greyish white
Melting point : 3422°C
Boiling point : 5555°C
Density : 19.3g/cm3
Moh's hardness : 7.5

The eye-catching properties of Tungsten is it's melting point and hardness.
It's melting point is the highest in the periodic table making it suitable to be used as a container in furnace for melting other metals.
Also, it's Moh's hardness of 7.5 have very few substance stronger than it, with a value of 10 for diamond which is the hardest. A compound of tungsten, Tungsten carbide also has a Moh's hardness of about 9.

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USES

Tungsten has been used as the filament in bulbs for ages and now, in halogen lamps due to its ability to withstand the high temperature efficiently.

Tungsten carbide is used in making Jewelries such as rings. These jewelries are known for their hardness and wear resistance.
It is also used making Drill bits.

In the military, instead of relying on explosives to breach armours, bullets and missiles are made with tungsten which can do the same with brute force.

Tungsten has been discovered as a trace element in the body of some living things.
Some bacteria uses tungsten to reduce carboxylic acids (-COOH) to aldehydes (-CHO).
Tungsten is also used as industrial catalysts.

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HEALTH EFFECTS
Tungsten is known to be toxic therefore, safe industrial hygiene practices and wearing of protective equipments when handling this compound is required. It causes:

irritation to the skin and eyes on contact.
Eyes becomes watering and reddened. Reddening, scaling, and itching occur as a result of skin inflammation.
irritation to the lungs and mucus membrane on inhalation.