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vanadium [V]
Named for Vanadis, a Scandinavian goddess, because of its many colorful compounds. Discovered by Mexican chemist Andres Manuel del Rio in 1801, but he withdrew his claim when the discovery was disputed. Rediscovered in 1830 by Swedish chemist Nils G Sefstrom.
Occurrence:
1) constitutes about 0.02% of earth's crust
2) found in trace quantities in > 60 different minerals
3) vanadinite is the most important source
4) 2nd most abundant transition metal ion in surface seawater after molybdenum
Characteristics:
1) bright, shiny, grayish metal
2) malleable, ductile
3) very resistance to corrosion
4) several oxidation states, +2, +3, +4, +5
Uses:
1) esp to form alloys (as vanadium steel)
-> tools, construction, jet engines
2) essential to some organisms (stimulates metabolism)
3) catalyst in preparation of sulfuric acid vanadium pentoxide
a) preparation of sulfuric acid
b) mordant
Related
vanadate
vanadium in specimen
General
trace element
metal
Properties
SIZE: AW = 50.942
atomic number
VALUE: 23
VALENCE: AR 3D3 4S2
Database Correlations
PUBCHEM cid=23990
References
- Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, Miriam-
Webster Inc. Springfield, MA 1990
- Chemical & Engineering News, Sept 8, 2003