Vanadium
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| General Properties | |
|---|---|
| Atomic number | 23 |
| Atomic mass | 50.942amu |
| Atomic radius | 171pm |
| Electron Configuration | [Ar] 3d3 4s2 |
| Density | 6.110g/cm3 |
| Melting point | 1910°C |
| Boiling point | 3407°C |
| First discovered/ developed | 1801 |
| Most common compound on Earth | Fe2VO4 (Vanadium Magnetite Ore) |
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Description and uses
Vanadium is the 23rd element of the periodic table. It was first discovered in 1801 by Andrés Manuel del Río in the form of vanadinite ore (then known as “brown
lead”). After extracting the vanadium, he noticed that many of its salts were brightly coloured, causing him to name it after the Norse goddess Vanadis.
Despite this, vanadium's main use is in something rather colourless - steel. Vanadium steel is one of the hardest forms of steel used in industry, and it is mainly
used in tools and moving parts like drill bits in order to make them tougher and more effective.
Vanadium, along with chromium, is also one of the compounds in emeralds which gives them their famous green colour.
Vanadium has 2 naturally occurring isotopes. 51V is by far the most abundant, taking up around 99.8% of all vanadium atoms. The radioactive
50V is much less common, with a half-life of 2.7x1017 years.