Tungsten (W)

Adapted from Alejandro's project.

Here is a brief history of Tungsten: It was discovered in Spain in 1783 by the brothers Fausto and Juan Jose de Elhuyar. Its name is derived from the Swedish words “tung sten,” meaning “heavy stone.” Its symbol, W, comes from Wolfram, named after the tungsten mineral Wolframite.

Stamp with the de Elhuyar brothers.

Some general info on Tungsten: It’s atomic number is 74, with an atomic mass of 183.84 amu. It has 110 neutrons. This means that it is in Group Number 6 and Period Number 6.Its melting point is 341 ºC, and with a boiling point of 5660 ºC. Its number of Valence Electrons is 2. Tungsten’s electron shell configuration is 2:8:18:32:12:2.

Tungsten has 10 isotops:

Tungsten is a transition metal. It has the highest melting poing and lowest vapor pressure of all the metals. It becomes solid at 298 K. The element also has high thermal and electrical conductivity. It has excellent corrosion resistance and has a shiny, white/silver color. It is found in wolframite, scheelite, ferberite, and huebnerite ores in Bolivia, California, China, Colorado, Portugal, Russia, and South Korea. 75% of the world's tungsten is found in China.

Citations:

http://www.chemicalelements.com/elements/w.html

http://www.itia.org.uk/tungsten/tungsten_facts.html

http://www.webelements.com/webelements/scholar/elements/tungsten/history.html

http://www.mkt-intl.com/tungsten/tungsten.html

http://www.tungsten.com/mtstung.html