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