There are facts aka interesting facts and even fun facts about Tungsten (steel-gray to silver-white metal). This is used in many applications from x-ray equipment to spacecraft and that is only mentioning two, just two wow. It’s easy to track down all those facts and applications, thank you internet 😊. As this is Fun Fact Friday (FFF) a few fun facts will be listed below.
1) Its name is derived from the Swedish words “tung sten” meaning heavy stone [1]. The origin of its chemical symbol is its earlier German name, Wolfram that is derived from the mineral wolframite from which it was first extracted [2]
2) Used in light bulbs where it serves as the filament for their heating elements. Performs well in light bulb filament because of its highly conductive properties. it can effortlessly conduct electricity, which is responsible for creating light. As electricity flows through the tungsten filament, the light bulb illuminates. [3]
3) Production of tungsten is difficult due to its high melting point. It also has the highest tensile strength. Tensile strength, of course, refers to a material’s ability to withstand force or pressure without breaking. [3]
4) Tungsten is drastically harder than gold, which makes it an even more suitable material for jewelry. Hence, jewelers often use tungsten to make rings, necklaces, and other jewelry instead of gold. [3]
5) The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry in 2005 dropped the name wolfram completely to make the periodic table the same in every country. [4]
6) It does not rust, tarnish and is scratch resistant. [5]
7) Almost 50% of the tungsten ore mined in the world is utilized for the smelting of high-quality steel, around 35% is used to make hard steel, around 10% is used to make tungsten wire, and nearly 5% is used for other uses. [6]
8) The data that was released by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2015, global tungsten production in 2014 was around 82,400 tons, a slight increase of 1% from 2013’s 81,400 tons.
China is the main producer of tungsten. In 2014, the output of tungsten ore was 68,000 tons, accounting for about 84% of the global total output. Followed by Russia (3,600 tons) and Canada (2,200 tons). Additional countries with high tungsten production comprise Vietnam (2000tons), Bolivia (1300 tons), Austria (850 tons), Congo (Gold) (800 tons), Portugal (700 tons), Rwanda (700 tons), and Australia (600 tons)). [6]
These are just a few facts aka fun facts about tungsten, listed below are references to the above information. The list of facts is much longer than what is listed, so enjoy and have a fun Friday 😊.
References
- http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/74/tungsten
- https://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele074.html
- https://monroeengineering.com/blog/5-fun-facts-about-tungsten/
- https://briandcolwell.com/20-interesting-facts-about-tungsten/
- https://www.overstock.com/guides/tungsten-rings-fact-sheet/
- https://www.refractorymetal.org/facts-about-tungsten/
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