Tungsten facts for kids

Tiny pieces of tungsten metal in a glass bottle.

Tungsten (also called wolfram) is a special kind of building block for everything around us. Scientists call these building blocks chemical elements. You can find tungsten on the periodic table, which is like a big chart of all known elements. Its special symbol is W, and its atomic number is 74.

Tungsten is a shiny, strong metal that looks like steel, ranging from gray to white. In chemistry, it belongs to a group of metals called transition metals. You can find tungsten hidden inside rocks called ores, like wolframite and scheelite.

What Makes Tungsten Special?

Tungsten is super unique because it has the highest melting point of any pure metal. This means it needs a lot of heat to turn from a solid into a liquid. Because of this, it's used in many important ways.

Uses in Everyday Life

• Light Bulbs: One of the most famous uses for tungsten is in the tiny wire inside old-fashioned light bulbs. This wire, called a filament, gets super hot and glows brightly when electricity passes through it.
• X-ray Machines: Tungsten is also used in X-ray machines. It helps create the X-rays that doctors use to see inside your body.
• Strong Materials: Because it's so strong and can handle high heat, tungsten is mixed with other metals to make super strong materials called superalloys. These are used in things like jet engines.
• Seals: It's even used to create tight seals between glass and metal parts in electronic devices.

Tungsten's Strength and Weight

Tungsten is not only super hard but also very heavy. Its density (how much stuff is packed into a certain space) is almost the same as gold! This high density and hardness make it useful for many things.

• Military Uses: In the military, tungsten has been used to make special bullets that can break through strong armor.
• Preventing Cheating: Because tungsten is so heavy and looks similar to gold, some people have tried to trick others by coating tungsten bars with a thin layer of gold and selling them as solid gold. This is a type of cheating.

Images for kids

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  Wolframite mineral, with a ruler for size

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  Tungsten mining in Rwanda is important for the country's economy.

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  A close-up of a tungsten wire inside a halogen lamp

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  A tungsten part used in a special welding tool

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  The structure of a tungsten compound called W6Cl18

See also

In Spanish: Wolframio para niños