Adopt - An - Element Project

"Adopt - An - Element Project"

The Element Tungsten

Tungsten (W)

Uses of Tungsten (W)

History of Tungsten (W)

• Tungsten and its alloys are widely used for filaments in older style (not energy saving) electric bulbs and electronic tubes.

• Tungsten is also used as the filament in halogen Tungsten lamps. These lamps use halogens like bromine and iodine to prevent the Tungsten filament from degrading and are therefore more energy efficient than standard incandescent light bulbs.

• High speed steel, which can cut modern day labor materials at higher speeds than carbon steel), contains up to a total of 18% Tungsten.

• Tungsten is used in heavy metal alloys because of its hardness and in high-temperature applications such as welding.

• Tungsten Carbide (WC or W2C) is extremely hard and is used to make drills, as well as fine jewelry because of its hardness and wear resistance.

• The element is used in metalworking, construction and electrical machinery and equipment, transportation equipment, carbide(s) in drilling equipment, heat and radiation shielding, textile dyes, enamels, paints, and for coloring glass.

Chemical Properties

• Tungsten was isolated as Tungstic Oxide (WO3) in 1781, in Sweden, by Carl W. Scheele from the mineral scheelite (calcium tungstate).
• The more commonly known Tungsten metal was then isolated in 1783 in the country of Spain by the Spanish chemists and mineralogists Juan José and Fausto Elhuyar by charcoal reduction of the oxide (WO3), which is derived from the mineral wolframite (an iron manganese tungstate mineral).
• The element name (Tungsten) comes from the Swedish words ‘tung sten’ which translates to the definition of "heavy stone."
• The chemical symbol, W, comes from the original German name of the element, Wolfram.

Physical Properties

• The element being researched in this project is the Periodic Table (PT) element Tungsten.
• The chemical symbol on the Period Table (PT) for the element Tungsten is W.
• The Atomic Number for the element Tungsten is 74.

Uses Cont.

Model of an Atom (Tungsten)

Chemical Properties Cont.

• Tungsten is retrieved from the ore minerals Scheelite (CaWO4, Calcium Tungstate) and Wolframite ((Fe,Mn)WO4, Iron-Manganese Tungstate). Of the world's Tungsten reserves, over 90% are outside the United States. Of these resources, nearly half are found in China, Canada, and Russia.

• Tungsten's abundance within the earth’s crust is approximately 1.25 parts per million by weight, 0.1 parts per million by moles.

• Tungsten's abundance within the boundaries of the solar system is approximately 4 parts per billion by weight, 30 part per trillion by moles.

• The overall cost of the element Tungsten includes:

$11 per 100g (pure)

$2.95 per 100g (bulk)

• Without the presence of the element, Tungsten, the world would not be as advanced in the techniques of drilling manufactures, jewelry designing, glass coloring/painting, construction developments, and textile relations in various industrial corporations.

• The Atomic Mass Number of the element Tungsten is 183.84 grams (g).
• The melting point for the element Tungsten is set at 3,695 K (3,422°C or 6,192°F). This is the highest melting point of any metal found on the Period Table of Elements
• The boiling point for the element Tungsten is set at 5,828 K (5,555°C or 10,031°F).
• The overall calculated density for the element Tungsten is 19.3 grams (g) per cubic centimeter.
• Tungsten's physical appearance is a hard, brittle solid (rock shaped) whose color hue/pigmentation ranges from steel-gray to nearly white.
• The five key, naturally occurring isotopes of Tungsten include: Tungsten-180, Tungsten-182, Tungsten-183, Tungsten-184, and Tungsten-186.

• The most common compound that contains the element Tungsten is Tungsten Carbide (WC).

W+2, W+3, W+4, W+6

The most common compounds include the following:

• Tungsten (III) Oxide W2O3
• Tungsten Trioxide WO3
• Tungsten (VI) Sulfate W(SO4)
• Tungsten Carbonate WCO3
• Tungsten (VI) Bromide WBr6
• Tungsten (VI) Phosphide WP2

Electron Configuration (Tungsten)

• The element Tungsten is a relatively inactive metal.
• At room temperature, Tungsten does not react with air or oxygen, O2. At elevated temperatures (red heat), the trioxide Tungsten(VI) Oxide, WO3, is formd. Finely divided tungsten metal is pyrophoric.

2W(s) + 3O2(g) → 2WO3(s)

• At room temperature, Tungsten does not react with water.
• Tungsten reacts directly with fluorine, F2, at room temperature to form Tungsten(VI) Fluoride, WF6. The conditions are much milder than those required for chromium (two places above Tungsten in the Periodic Table).

W(s) + 3F2(g) → WF6(g)

Tungsten reacts directly with chlorine at 250°C or bromine to form Tungsten(VI) Chloride or Tungsten(VI) Bromide. Under carefully controlled conditions, Tungsten(V) Chloride is formed in the reaction between Tungsten metal and chlorine. It seems that tungsten does react to some extent with iodine at red heat.

W(s) + 3Cl2(g)WCl6(s)

W(s) + 3Cl2(l)WBr6(s)

2W(s) + 5Cl2(g)2WCl5(s)

• Tungsten metal is largely unaffected by most acids.
• Tungsten metal does not react to any significant extent with dilute solutions of hydroxide.
• Tungsten corrodes (rusts) at temperatures above 400°C (700°F) and does not react very readily with acids, although it does dissolve in nitric acid and/or aqua regia.

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d10 5s2 5p6 4f14 5d4 6s2

Bibliography

Tungsten (W)

Gagnon, Steve M. "The Element Tungsten." It's

Elemental -.

2014. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.

"Tungsten - Element Information, Properties and Uses |

Periodic Table." Tungsten - Element Information,

Properties and Uses | Periodic Table. Royal Society of

Chemistry, 6 Aug. 2016. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.

Winter, Mark J. "Tungsten: Compounds Information."

Tungsten»compounds Information [WebElements

Periodic Table]. Nov. 2016. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.

"History of Tungsten." History of Tungsten. Web. 27

Feb. 2016.