Tungsten

:This article is about the chemical element. "Tungsten" may also refer to the Tungsten Handheld PDA or to the Tungsten pickups.

History

Tungsten (Swedish and Danish tung sten meaning "heavy stone", even though the current name for the element in Swedish is Wolfram) was first hypothesized to exist by Peter Woulfe in 1779 who examined wolframite and concluded that it must contain a new substance. In 1781 Carl Wilhelm Scheele ascertained that a new acid could be made from tungstenite. Scheele and Torbern Bergman suggested that it could be possible to obtain a new metal by reducing tungstic acid. In 1783 José and Fausto Elhuyar found an acid in wolframite that was identical to tungstic acid. In Spain later that year the brothers succeeded in isolating tungsten through reduction of this acid with charcoal. They are credited with the discovery of the element.

Related Topics:
Swedish - Danish - Peter Woulfe - 1779 - Wolframite - Carl Wilhelm Scheele - Acid - Torbern Bergman - 1783 - José - Fausto Elhuyar - Spain - Charcoal

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In World War II, tungsten played an enormous role in background political dealings. Portugal, as the main European source of the element, was put under pressure from both sides, because of its sources of wolframite ore. The resistance to high temperatures, as well as the extreme strength of its alloys, made the metal into a very important raw material for the weaponry industry.

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