About Tungsten

Wolfram

The word tungsten means "heavy stone" in Swedish. The chemical symbol for tungsten is 'W' which stands for Wolfram. The name came from medieval German smelters who found that tin ores containing tungsten had a much lower yield. It was said that the tungsten devoured the tin "like a wolf".

Pure tungsten metal was first isolated by two Spanish chemists, the de Elhujar brothers in 1783. Tungsten is a greyish-white lustrous metal, which is a solid at room temperature.

Tungsten has the highest melting point and lowest vapor pressure of all metals, and at temperatures over 1650°C has the highest tensile strength (shown above). It has excellent corrosion resistance and is attacked only slightly by most mineral acids. (http://www.tungsten.com/mtstung.html)

More information can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungsten

Uses

A high melting point also makes tungsten suitable for space-oriented and high temperature uses which include electrical, heating, and welding applications.

Hardness and density properties make this metal ideal for making heavy metal alloys that are used in armaments, heat sinks, and high-density applications, such as weights, counterweights and ballast keels for yachts.

Tungsten Carbide has recently been used in the fashioning of jewelry due to its hypoallergenic nature and the fact that due to its extreme solidity it is not apt to lose its luster like other polished metals. (wikipedia.org)

Tensile Strength

This table illustrates the tinsile strength of Tungsten compared to other similar metals:

For a full table visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensile_strength