Vanadium (V)
Vanadium is a hard, silvery-gray metal used to make strong steel alloys for tools, springs, and jet engines.
Properties of Vanadium
- Atomic number
- 23
- Category
- Transition Metal
- Atomic mass
- 50.942 u
- Electron configuration
- [Ar] 3d³ 4s²
- Melting point
- 2183 K (1909.85 °C)
- Boiling point
- 3680 K (3406.85 °C)
- Density
- 6.11 g/cm³
- Electronegativity (Pauling)
- 1.63
- Appearance
- Blue-silvery-gray metal
- Discovered by
- Andrés Manuel del Río (1801)
Facts about Vanadium
- Vanadium is named after Vanadis, the Scandinavian goddess of beauty!
- Vanadium makes steel super strong — it's used in car axles and crankshafts!
- Vanadium compounds come in beautiful purple, green, blue, and yellow colors!
- Some sea creatures called tunicates collect vanadium in their blood!