What Is Tungsten Made Of?

Tungsten has for a long period of time been used in the manufacture of light bulbs.

Since tungsten is one of the periodic elements, it can be reduced to its pure form. However, in nature tungsten only occurs in combined forms. Also known as wolfram, tungsten has a periodic number of 72 and is symbolized by the letter "W."

General Properties

With a molecular weight of 74, tungsten is one of the heavier elements. Tungsten has many oxidation states and so it is capable of combing with many different elements to form a large variety of compound. The molecular structure of tungsten has 74 electrons and protons. The most common basic variety contains an additional 109 neutrons.

Natural Ores

Scheelite and wolframite are the chief ores of tungsten. They occur frequently around the globe in large, mineable quantities. The chemical name for scheelite is calcium tungstate and it is has a formula of CaWO4. Simply put, tungsten combines with oxygen to form a tungstate, which tend joins with a calcium atom. On a worldwide basis, wolframite or (Fe,Mn)WO4 is more abundant. With this mineral the same tungstate molecule combines with both iron and manganese to form a rich ore.

Industrial Pure Tungsten

Tungsten can be isolated and used in making filaments for light bulbs and electronic tubes. This element is used extensively in this capacity because of its high melting point and its ability to form very thin, yet durable filaments. Tungsten can also be used to form numerous usable compounds, such as tungstic acid, (H2WO4).

References

• Galleries: The Mineral Scheelite
• Web Mineral: Wolframite Mineral Data
• The Free Encyclopedia: Tungsten