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Tungsten W

 

Where is tungsten used--or where does it impact your everyday life?

 

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Or "Tongsten"!

We're in no doubt why we love WIS!

Sodium tungstate, Na2WO4,  is used as a catalyst in oxidation of alcohols (primary alcohols) to aldehydes or secondary alcohols to ketones -as studied in IB Chemistry--where the oxidizing agent is usually acidified potassium dichromate.

 

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Tungsten carbide is incrediby hard: diamond is 10 on a ten-point Mohs hardness scale.  Tunsten carbide is 9 on the Mohs hardness scale.

Tungsten is used in high-temperaure alloys in the combustion chambers of jet engines.  The superalloys contain niobiun, tantalum, tungsten or molybdenum.

The Pratt and Whitney jet engine in the image is one from the F-35 on display at the National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, Virginia, USA

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Wires of tungsten metal are used in incandescent (not fluorescent) light bulbs--they glow brightly-and emit heat-when electricity passes through them.

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The glass of the bulb has been removed.  (Don't do this at home!) The curled filament is clearly visible.  Tungsten is used because it lasts longer.  This type of light bulb contains argon, which will not react with the hot, glowing tungsten filament.

 

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