Tungsten

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

PHASE — Solid
STD ATOMIC WEIGHT — 183.84 g·mol−1
MELTING TEMPERATURE — 3695 K, 3422 °C, 6192 °F
BOILING POINT — 5828 K, 5555 °C, 10031 °F
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE — Body Centered Cubic
ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY — (20 °C) 52.8 nΩ·m
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY — (300 K) 173 W·m−1·K−1
THERMAL EXPANSION — (25 °C) 4.5 µm·m−1·K−1

GENERAL PROPERTIES

SYMBOL — W
NUMBER — 74
ELEMENT CATEGORY: — Transition Metals

KEY FACTS

• Discovered in 1783 by Scheele and Torbern Bergman.
• Translates to “heavy stone” in Swedish
• Formerly known as wolframium, hence the periodic symbol W
• Has the highest melting point of all metals in pure form.
• Has the lowest coefficient of any pure metals.
• Very difficult to machine and fabricate

MAJOR APPLICATIONS

• Light bulb filaments
• Heating elements in vacuum furnaces
• Radiation shielding
• Ballistics
• Welding applications
• Alloying agent
• Electrodes

COMMON ALLOYS

• Tungsten
• 90% Tungsten 6% Nickel, 4% Copper
• 90% Tungsten 7% Nickel, 3% Iron
• 92.5% Tungsten 5.25% Nickel 2.25% Iron
• 95% Tungsten 3.5% Nickel 1.5% Copper
• 95% Tungsten 3.5% Nickel 1.5% Iron
• 97% Tungsten 2.1% Nickel .9% Iron