What is Tungsten?
Tungsten is derived from the Swedish word meaning “heavy stone” it is gray-silver in color with an inert chemistry and physical properties not affected by air, acids or bases.
Tungsten has the highest melting point of all metals and is used in alloys designed to withstand incredible heat. Binary alloys are combinations of two metals only that create a new metal with properties of both components.
In the early 1920’s tungsten was used for light-bulb filaments because of its toughness and resilience that is superior to other metals. More currently it has risen in popularity with jewelers because it is incredibly durable and hypo-allergenic.
Tungsten – or tungsten carbide – is the strongest metal alloy used in jewelry. Jewelers do not use pure tungsten for rings because pure tungsten in its natural state, is a powder and to be used in a ring, a binder element, carbon, cobalt and/or nickel, needs to be added. At Tungsten Titans – we use a jewelry grade nickel as the binder.
Tungsten is an extremely hard metal, ranking a very impressive 9 (out of 10) on the Mohs scale of hardness. In fact, it is just below the hardest material on earth – diamond!
Because of this phenomenal hardness, tungsten metal, a tungsten wedding band is scratch resistant and will not bend like other precious or alternative metals.
Furthermore tungsten does not fade so the shine of your tungsten ring will last throughout the years and you won’t lose the luster of your ring long after your wedding. This is what makes tungsten is a good choice for your wedding ring!
The History and Discovery of Tungsten
The Spanish chemists Juan José and Fausto Elhuyar were able to properly identify tungsten as a material and one that would leave a profound name in chemistry and industry, but as is common in history, the story is less simple because tungsten was used hundreds of years earlier – in China.
It was discovered by a Swedish chemist and German miners. However, you really have to credit the Elhuyar brothers for the first proper identification and distillation of tungsten to its metallic form, which is when it became such a prominent and recognized material.
Chemical Formula, Composition
The type of tungsten that we know and utilize is not only tungsten. When it comes from scheelite ores, it is calcium tungstate, with a chemical formula of (CaWO4). When it comes from wolframite ores, it is iron-manganese tungstate (Fe,Mn)WO4.
Chemical properties of tungsten
Below are the chemical properties of tungsten as well as tungsten’s reactions.
| Chemical Properties | Description |
| Acid Resistance | Resistant to nitric acid, hydrofluoric acid, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, and aqua regia at low temperatures; weakly affected by some acids at elevated temperatures |
| Dissolution in Mixed Acid | Quickly dissolves in a mixed acid of hydrofluoric acid and concentrated nitric acid at normal temperatures |
| Reaction with Oxidants | Intense reaction with oxidants (NaNO3, NaNO2, PbO2, KClO3) to produce tungstate |
| Alkali Resistance | Does not dissolve in alkaline solutions |
| Reaction with Carbon | Reacts with carbon at high temperatures to produce tungsten carbide, known for its hardness and wear resistance |
| Combination with Elements | Can combine with chlorine, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, bromine, iodine, carbon, and sulfur at high temperatures; does not undergo hydrogenation |
| Oxidation in Air | Molten alkali in the presence of air can oxidize tungsten to tungstate |
| Dissolution in Mixed Acid | Quickly dissolves in a mixed acid of hydrofluoric acid and concentrated nitric acid at normal temperatures |
Physical Properties of Tungsten
In the following table, you’ll learn the physical properties of tungsten, including its boiling point and its periodic table group.
| Physical Properties | Description |
| Appearance | Silver-white metal with a steel like appearance |
| Group | Belongs to group VIB of the periodic table |
| Melting Point | High melting Point of 3422 Celsius |
| Boiling Point | The boiling point can reach 5927 Celsius |
| Atomic Number | 74 |
| Density | 19.35 g/ cm3, 2.5 times that of steel, equivalent to gold |
| Electrical Conductivity | Exhibits good electrical conductivity |
| Elastic Modulus | High Elastic modulus of 35000-38000 MPa (Wire) |
How Tungsten is Made
You will never find tungsten in a hunk of native tungsten lying around in the wild, but will need to heat and combine it with other elements to make it in a format that one would use in industry and manufacturing. The first step is to get tungsten out of its scheelite and wolframite ores, and this happens through gravity concentration and crushing, revealing the elements of tungsten.
From scheelite and wolframite ores, tungsten can be extracted, involving the use of flotation, fine grinding, leaching, roasting, tension separation, and gravity concentration. If you are interested in ammonium tungsten paratungstate, the acid leaching and autoclave-soda processes combine to benefit the reactor system for this extraction. Once you get as pure of a solution as you require or the ores are processed, the tungsten trioxide powder can be heated to make tungsten in its pure metal form.
Uses of Tungsten
There are several ways we can utilize tungsten to being workable across multiple industries, addressing demands for rockets, oncology, fusion power and even more.Additional applications to be mindful of:
1. Electronics
When designing circuits, it is useful to use tungsten as the interconnecting material between integrated circuits because it allows good electrical conductivity and durability, which is a nice part of the signal transfer or smooth coupling of different interconnected technologies.
2. Alloys
When producing alloys, tungsten is a good additive. It is mostly an additive for refractory metals, such as molybdenum alloys, that enhance certain properties and create a range of devices, including turbine blades, jet engine nozzles, and even darts.
3. Fusion Power
Fusion power allows power generation based on capturing enough heat in a nuclear fusion reactions. Tungsten is a plausible option to support the runaway reactors holding fusion reactions for several reasons including high melting point, high thermal conductivity as well as low reactivity under neutron bombardment.
4. Medical Uses
In medicine, there is a host of uses for tungsten. If you are a doctor, you may find tungsten in gamma radiography and oncology tools, you will find tungsten materials developed into containers holding any radioactive material, while in surgical procedures, you may find tungsten alloys to shield possible radiation exposure in the form of syringe shields.
5.Nanowires
Tungsten serves as a viable option for nanowires as it retains high conductivity and optical properties for electrical items. For instance, it is possible to spin tungsten into nanowires that are usable in sensors, electronics, optoelectronics, and energy storage.
6. Military usages
Tungsten contains its share of military usages; that is to say it possesses several sources for weaponry for defense. You may find tungsten that is used in tungsten-alloy bullets, shrapnel heads, and armor piercing projectile.
7. Chemical
You may even use tungsten into solutions and chemical compounds likewise found in countless industries. The list is diverse, you can find pigments, paints, lubricants, and inks in tungsten content.
8. Jewelry
You will find another modern-day usage of tungsten in the jewelry industry. Tungsten is found to be more durable than gold, silver, and even titanium; to that extent it proves to be durable in the making of rings and necklaces. Oddly enough, you will find some drill bits of Tungsten too for these reasons.
9. Welding
You can’t even -tungsten inert gas welding, latter being the crucial word here. The tungsten creates the electric arc that you use for welding as it is used for making a non-consumable electrode for welding. This type of welding is applied if you are working on more delicate projects and exerting additional control.
Advantages of Tungsten
- High temperature stability: It should be of high interest to you that for pure metal, tungsten is “extremely impressive” for having the lowest coefficient of thermal expansion; it will hardly expand if exposed to extreme heat.
- High density and weight: You would wonder why tungsten could be used for race car ballasts, in fact, it density is 1.7 times denser than lead.
- Good blend of conductivity and inertness: Tungsten is perfect for use in free-electron and radiative environments; for example, as it won’t react to exposure of other chemicals as it applies conductivity to a degree.
- High corrosion resistance: You could practically never run tungsten in industries and environments where it will be in contact to water, solvents, and acid without having to worry about deterioration.
- Highest melting point: You will find tungsten is the highest for the melting point for pure metals at 3,422° C.
Disadvantages of Tungsten
- Hard and brittle: There are many ways you can utilize the hardness of tungsten, but in certain instances, it is too hard, brittle and shatters easily. For example, if you find you cannot wear the correct size tungsten wedding ring to remake, you are in trouble.
- High density means heavy: Although this may assist in the ballast situation, you will also find tungsten is heavy for all other uses if you want to reduce the weight.