About Vanadium

Vanadium is an element that is used to make many of the metal components that we rely on every day. The steel in your car axle has vanadium in it, and so does the jet engine that propels your next cross-country flight. Vanadium was actually discovered twice, and an unfortunate shipwreck delayed its debut by almost 30 years.

History

Vanadium is an entry on the Periodic Table of Elements that was first uncovered in 1801 by a Mexican scientist named Andres Manuel del Rio. As was the custom at the time, del Rio packaged up his findings and shipped it to the Institute de France to confirm that he had discovered a new element. On the way to Paris, the ship carrying the discovery wrecked, and the scientists in Paris only received a small sample and a short letter from del Rio which explained that he felt his discovery may be chromium. The Institute de France turned down the discovery saying that the element was indeed chromium. Del Rio did not pursue his discovery after the rejection.
A Swedish chemist named Nils Gabriel Sefstrom revived the vanadium element in 1830 when he found it in samples of iron ore from a Swedish mine.
Finally in 1867, British chemist Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe was able to isolate and identify with certainty the vanadium element.
Because Sefstrom was so struck by the beautiful colors found in the element, he named it vanadium after the Norse goddess Vanadis who was the goddess of youth and beauty.

Types

The process of creating pure vanadium requires the combination of the minerals vanadinite and carnotite by crushing them together, along with carbon and chlorine, and then heating the mixture. The result is vanadium trichloride. To purify this into vanadium, it is necessary to heat the solution with magnesium in the presence of an argon matrix.
It is also possible to find vanadium in various crude oils, and even a very small percentage can be found in the tiny meteorites that hit the Earth on a regular basis.
When oil is refined into petroleum, it creates an ash-like substance, and this substance is known to contain a variation of vanadium that may be used as a future source of the element once the process of retrieving it from the ash is perfected.

Function

Vanadium is used to create metal that is extremely resistant to corrosion, and can withstand very high temperatures.
It is transformed into a steel additive called ferrovanadium that is used to create very strong steel components.
Vanadium can be found in such things as car axles, the gears in a car engine, jet engine parts, very sharp cutting tools, and it is also used to make parts for nuclear reactors.

Identification

On the Periodic Table of Elements, vanadium has the atomic number of 23 and the atomic symbol V. It's atomic weight is 50.9414, and it has an atomic radius of 132.1pm. It's boiling point is 3407 degrees Centigrade, and it has a melting point of 1910 degrees Centigrade.

Considerations

Pure vanadium is known to contain a small degree of radiation which is degraded to non-threatening levels when it is processed into metal. It is considered dangerous to handle, and manufacturers are urged to not allow direct contact with the skin when using vanadium.