Titanium
Titanium is a strong, lightweight metal with outstanding resistance to corrosion, properties that make it valuable everywhere from jet engines to the human body. It was recognized as a new element in the late 18th century, but extracting it in pure, workable form proved so difficult that it didn't become an industrial metal until well into the 20th.
- Group · Period
- 4 · 4
- At room temp
- solid
- Melts at
- 1941 K
- Density
- 4.5 g/cm³
- Discovered
- 1791
Uses
Titanium’s combination of low density, high strength, and corrosion resistance makes it a favorite in aerospace engineering, where it’s used in aircraft frames, engine components, and spacecraft parts that need to withstand stress without adding excess weight. Its biocompatibility also makes it a standard material for medical implants, including joint replacements and dental fixtures, since the body tolerates it well and it can fuse securely with bone.
A very different use comes from titanium dioxide, a bright white compound that’s chemically stable and non-toxic. It’s the dominant white pigment in paints, coatings, and plastics, and it also shows up in sunscreens, where it helps scatter and absorb ultraviolet light.
History
Titanium was first identified in 1791 by English clergyman and mineralogist William Gregor, who found an unfamiliar substance in a black sand mineral near Cornwall and initially called it “menachanite.” A few years later, in 1795, German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth independently identified the same element in a different mineral, rutile, and gave it the name titanium, after the Titans of Greek mythology. Because the metal proved so difficult to extract in pure form, it remained largely a laboratory curiosity for more than a century before industrial production methods finally made it widely available.
Fun facts
- Titanium has one of the best strength-to-weight ratios of any metal, which is why it's used heavily in aerospace and high-performance equipment.
- It's remarkably resistant to corrosion, including from seawater, which is why it's used in ship parts and marine hardware.
- Titanium dioxide, a bright white compound, is the most widely used white pigment in paints, plastics, and even sunscreen.
Frequently asked questions
Why is titanium used in medical implants?
Titanium is biocompatible, meaning the body generally doesn't reject or react badly to it, and it can bond directly with bone over time through a process called osseointegration. Combined with its strength and corrosion resistance, that makes it a reliable choice for hip replacements, dental implants, and surgical plates.
If titanium was discovered in 1791, why wasn't it used until much later?
Titanium metal is unusually hard to extract from its ore — it reacts readily with oxygen and nitrogen at high temperatures, which made early attempts to purify it produce a brittle, unusable material. A reliable industrial process for producing pure titanium metal wasn't developed until the 20th century, more than a hundred years after the element was first identified.
Is titanium dioxide the same thing as titanium metal?
No — titanium dioxide is a compound of titanium and oxygen, a stable white powder used in paints and sunscreens, while titanium metal is the pure element, a strong silvery solid. They're both valuable, but for very different reasons: one for its bright, stable whiteness, the other for its strength and light weight.
Compounds
1 notable compound containing Ti
- TiO2oxide
Titanium dioxide
A brilliant white, chemically stable oxide that occurs naturally as the minerals rutile and anatase.
Used for: White pigment in paint, sunscreen, food coloring, plastics
Isotopes
27 known isotopes
Swipe to see all columns →
| Isotope | Natural abundance | Half-life | Decay mode | Mass excess | Binding energy / nucleon | Decay width |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ti-46 stable | 8.25% | Stable | — | -44,128.27 keV | 8,656.46 keV | — |
| Ti-47 stable | 7.44% | Stable | — | -44,937.61 keV | 8,661.23 keV | — |
| Ti-48 stable | 73.72% | Stable | — | -48,492.95 keV | 8,723.01 keV | — |
| Ti-49 stable | 5.41% | Stable | — | -48,564.01 keV | 8,711.16 keV | — |
| Ti-50 stable | 5.18% | Stable | — | -51,431.87 keV | 8,755.72 keV | — |
Show all 27 isotopes
| Ti-38 | — | 120 ns | Two-proton emission | 11,370 keV | 7,319 keV | 3.80 × 10-9 eV |
| Ti-39 | — | 28.5 ms | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%), ECP (93.7%), EC2P (14%) | 2,500 keV | 7,566 keV | 1.60 × 10-14 eV |
| Ti-40 | — | 52.4 ms | ECP (100%), Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -8,993.44 keV | 7,865.86 keV | 8.71 × 10-15 eV |
| Ti-41 | — | 81.9 ms | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%), ECP (100%) | -15,697.54 keV | 8,034.39 keV | 5.57 × 10-15 eV |
| Ti-42 | — | 208.65 ms | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -25,104.35 keV | 8,259.24 keV | 2.19 × 10-15 eV |
| Ti-43 | — | 509 ms | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%), ECP | -29,315.59 keV | 8,352.81 keV | 8.96 × 10-16 eV |
| Ti-44 | — | 59.1 Y | Electron capture (100%) | -37,548.59 keV | 8,533.52 keV | 2.45 × 10-25 eV |
| Ti-45 | — | 184.8 m | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -39,010.27 keV | 8,555.73 keV | 4.11 × 10-20 eV |
| Ti-51 | — | 5.76 m | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -49,732.97 keV | 8,708.99 keV | 1.32 × 10-18 eV |
| Ti-52 | — | 1.7 m | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -49,477.7 keV | 8,691.82 keV | 4.47 × 10-18 eV |
| Ti-53 | — | 32.7 s | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -46,881.43 keV | 8,631.13 keV | 1.40 × 10-17 eV |
| Ti-54 | — | 2.1 s | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -45,743.81 keV | 8,599.69 keV | 2.17 × 10-16 eV |
| Ti-55 | — | 1.3 s | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -41,832.47 keV | 8,518.97 keV | 3.51 × 10-16 eV |
| Ti-56 | — | 200 ms | Beta-minus decay (100%), Beta-minus, neutron emission | -39,423 keV | 8,467.95 keV | 2.28 × 10-15 eV |
| Ti-57 | — | 98 ms | Beta-minus decay (100%), Beta-minus, neutron emission | -34,401.85 keV | 8,372.9 keV | 4.66 × 10-15 eV |
| Ti-58 | — | 58 ms | Beta-minus decay (100%), Beta-minus, neutron emission | -30,917.67 keV | 8,307.63 keV | 7.87 × 10-15 eV |
| Ti-59 | — | 28.5 ms | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -25,880 keV | 8,218 keV | 1.60 × 10-14 eV |
| Ti-60 | — | 22 ms | Beta-minus decay (100%), Beta-minus, neutron emission, B-2N | -22,099.7 keV | 8,152.79 keV | 2.07 × 10-14 eV |
| Ti-61 | — | 15 ms | Beta-minus decay (100%), B-2N, Beta-minus, neutron emission | -16,370 keV | 8,058 keV | 3.04 × 10-14 eV |
| Ti-62 | — | 620 ns | Beta-minus decay, Beta-minus, neutron emission | -12,200 keV | 7,990 keV | 7.36 × 10-10 eV |
| Ti-63 | — | 360 ns | Beta-minus, neutron emission, Beta-minus decay | -5,860 keV | 7,891 keV | 1.27 × 10-9 eV |
| Ti-64 | — | — | Beta-minus decay (100%), Beta-minus, neutron emission, B-2N | -1,480 keV | 7,826 keV | — |