By now you have undoubtedly heard the term “tungsten” – albeit, usually by the term “tungsten carbide”. You have probably heard about how tungsten carbide rings are making a huge splash in the jewelry industry due to its beautiful look, its durability, and also due to its lower cost, as compared to more traditional gold, silver, or platinum. However, it is likely that most people would know little more than that about tungsten.
Tungsten, in its “purest” form, is a very shiny and strong metal that is a gray-white color. In terms of tungsten’s make up of the earth’s crust, it is just a tiny, tiny portion of the earth’s crust. It makes up about 1/20 ounce per ton of rock. However, in nature, tungsten cannot be found as a pure metal. Tungsten is always found combined with another element forming a compound. It is most commonly found with a mineral called “scheelite” or often times with another metal called “wolframite”.
Tungsten is now commonly known as a metal used in jewelry; however, its strong compounds have many more uses. Due to its hardness (its hardness is only outmatched by diamonds), it is often carbon to make tips for drill bits and cutting tools. Also, due to its high melting point it is often added to materials such as steel to make harder, more temperature resistant alloys.
Tungsten is not just another pretty metal. Its durability, strength and other characteristics make it ideal to be used to form compounds with other elements for a multitude of uses. It has been used for things ranging from space travel to light bulbs.
In the atomic level
If when you’re searching for a wedding band and assumed you could find nothing other than the traditional silver, gold and platinum, well, you’d be wrong. One of the more prominent metals used for jewelry is Tungsten, an extremely hard metal, that is very scratch resistant. Tungsten, aside from being popular for use in the jewelry industry, has many more characteristics that make this metal ideal for many things. It’s far more than just a shiny metal used for tungsten rings.
If back in your chemistry taking days, you thought W was the Chemical symbol for Water, well, you were wrong again… and you probably didn’t do well in chemistry. The chemical symbol W actually refers to Tungsten.
Everything in our world, visible to the naked eye or not, consists of atoms, which are tiny particles and are the foundation of all elements. Atoms are far too small to be seen by the naked eye, but must be observed through the lens of microscope in order to be seen. An atom is comprised of even smaller parts called protons, electrons, and neutrons, which can all be found surrounding the element’s nucleus.
Tungsten has the atomic number of 74, which means that tungsten has 74 positively charged protons in its nucleus. As you may recall an element will have the same number of electrons as neutron. So, a tungsten atom will consist of 74 electrons. Electrons have the effect of balancing out the positive charge of the neutrons, making the tungsten element electrically neutral.
Neutrons, on the other hand are usually found in different amounts within the tungsten particle. The neutrons are slightly larger than the proton and do not have a positive (or negative electrical charge). The presence of the neutrons is what allows a tungsten atom to form bonds with other elements, which is essential for forming bonds. Forming bonds is essential for creating the jewelry you find in stores or online.
Leave A Comment