Tungsten

Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W. The name tungsten comes from the former Swedish name for the tungstate mineral scheelite, tung sten or "heavy stone". Tungsten is a greyish-white lustrous metal, which is a solid at room temperature.

Tungsten was first commercially employed as a lamp filament material and thereafter used in many electrical and electronic applications.

Tungsten has the highest melting point of all metals and is alloyed with other metals to strengthen them. Tungsten and its alloys are used in many high-temperature applications, such as arc-welding electrodes and heating elements in high-temperature furnaces. Much tungsten goes into the production of tungsten steels, and some has been used in the aerospace industry to fabricate rocket-engine nozzle throats and leading-edge re-entry surfaces.

Tungsten carbide is immensely hard and is very important to the metal-working, mining and petroleum industries. It is made by mixing tungsten powder and carbon powder and heating to 2200°C. It makes excellent cutting and drilling tools, including a new ‘painless’ dental drill which spins at ultra-high speeds.