Tungsten
Tungsten is a dense, steel-gray transition metal isolated in 1783 that holds the record for the highest melting point of any metal. Its name comes from Swedish for "heavy stone," while its chemical symbol, W, reflects its older name, wolfram.
- Group · Period
- 6 · 6
- At room temp
- solid
- Melts at
- 3695 K
- Density
- 19.3 g/cm³
- Discovered
- 1783
Uses
Tungsten’s most famous historical use was as the glowing filament inside incandescent lightbulbs, made possible by its extremely high melting point — over 3,400°C, the highest of any metal — which lets it withstand the heat of an electric current without melting. That same heat resistance still makes tungsten valuable in welding electrodes, furnace components, and rocket engine nozzles. Its other major application is tungsten carbide, an extremely hard compound used to make cutting tools, drill bits, and other machinery parts that need to resist wear far longer than ordinary steel. Tungsten’s high density also makes it useful as a substitute for lead in applications like fishing weights and certain types of ammunition and radiation shielding.
History
Tungsten was isolated in 1783 by Spanish chemist brothers Juan José and Fausto Elhuyar, who extracted the metal from a mineral called wolframite. Their work built on earlier observations by Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele, who had identified an acid from a different tungsten-bearing mineral a couple of years before but hadn’t isolated the metal itself. The element’s English name comes from Swedish words meaning “heavy stone,” while its symbol, W, preserves its older name, wolfram, still used in several European languages today.
Fun facts
- Tungsten has the highest melting point of any metal, at over 3,400°C, which is why it was the standard filament material in incandescent lightbulbs for a century.
- Tungsten carbide, an extremely hard compound of tungsten, is used to make cutting tools and drill bits that need to stay sharp under heavy wear.
- Tungsten's chemical symbol, W, comes from wolfram, an older name for the element still used in several European languages.
Frequently asked questions
Why was tungsten used in lightbulb filaments?
Tungsten's extraordinarily high melting point, over 3,400°C, lets it glow white-hot from an electric current without melting, which made it the standard filament material in incandescent bulbs for most of the 20th century. That same heat resistance is why tungsten still turns up in other high-temperature applications, from welding electrodes to rocket engine components.
What is tungsten carbide and why is it so hard?
Tungsten carbide is a compound of tungsten and carbon that's extremely hard and wear-resistant, approaching the hardness of some gemstones. That toughness makes it ideal for cutting tools, drill bits, and industrial machinery parts that need to keep a sharp edge or resist wear far longer than ordinary steel would.
Why does tungsten's symbol, W, not match its name?
Tungsten was historically also known as wolfram, a name still used in German, Swedish, and several other European languages, and that's where its chemical symbol W comes from. The English name "tungsten," from Swedish words meaning "heavy stone," became the more common name in English-speaking countries, but the older symbol stuck.
Compounds
4 notable compounds containing W
- WCindustrial
Tungsten carbide
A dense, extremely hard grey compound, nearly as stiff as diamond, usually sintered with a cobalt binder into tough composite tooling material.
Used for: Cutting tools, mining drill bits, and scratch-resistant jewelry
- WS2industrial
Tungsten disulfide
A dark grey solid with a layered, slippery crystal structure similar to graphite, letting its layers slide past each other with very low friction.
Used for: Dry, high-temperature solid lubricant for bearings and coatings
- WF6halide
Tungsten hexafluoride
A dense, corrosive gas, notable for being among the heaviest gases known under ordinary conditions, used as the fluorine and tungsten source in vapor deposition processes.
Used for: Precursor gas for depositing tungsten metal films in semiconductor chip wiring
- WO3oxide
Tungsten trioxide
A yellow, chemically stable oxide that turns deep blue when it gains electrons, a property exploited in glass that darkens electronically on demand.
Used for: Active layer in electrochromic 'smart' windows and gas sensors
Isotopes
41 known isotopes
Swipe to see all columns →
| Isotope | Natural abundance | Half-life | Decay mode | Mass excess | Binding energy / nucleon | Decay width |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W-180 | 0.12% | 1.8E18 Y | Alpha decay (100%) | -49,636.24 keV | 8,025.44 keV | 8.03 × 10-42 eV |
| W-182 stable | 26.5% | Stable | — | -48,246.14 keV | 8,018.31 keV | — |
| W-183 | 14.31% | 6.7E+20 Y | Alpha decay | -46,365.66 keV | 8,008.32 keV | 2.16 × 10-44 eV |
| W-184 stable | 30.64% | Stable | — | -45,705.45 keV | 8,005.08 keV | — |
| W-186 stable | 28.43% | Stable | — | -42,508.6 keV | 7,988.6 keV | — |
Show all 41 isotopes
| W-157 | — | 275 ms | Electron capture | -19,690 keV | 7,828 keV | 1.66 × 10-15 eV |
| W-158 | — | 1.25 ms | Alpha decay (100%) | -23,693 keV | 7,855 keV | 3.65 × 10-13 eV |
| W-159 | — | 7.3 ms | Alpha decay (99.9%), Electron capture / beta-plus decay (0.1%) | -25,434 keV | 7,867 keV | 6.25 × 10-14 eV |
| W-160 | — | 91 ms | Alpha decay (87%), Electron capture / beta-plus decay (13%) | -29,329.07 keV | 7,892.79 keV | 5.01 × 10-15 eV |
| W-161 | — | 409 ms | Alpha decay (73%), Electron capture / beta-plus decay (27%) | -30,507 keV | 7,901 keV | 1.12 × 10-15 eV |
| W-162 | — | 1.19 s | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (54.8%), Alpha decay (45.2%) | -33,999.22 keV | 7,923.82 keV | 3.83 × 10-16 eV |
| W-163 | — | 2.67 s | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (86%), Alpha decay (14%) | -34,908.44 keV | 7,930.3 keV | 1.71 × 10-16 eV |
| W-164 | — | 6.3 s | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (96.2%), Alpha decay (3.8%) | -38,235.56 keV | 7,951.45 keV | 7.24 × 10-17 eV |
| W-165 | — | 5.1 s | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (99.8%), Alpha decay (0.2%) | -38,861.32 keV | 7,955.97 keV | 8.95 × 10-17 eV |
| W-166 | — | 19.2 s | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (99.965%), Alpha decay (0.035%) | -41,887.47 keV | 7,974.9 keV | 2.38 × 10-17 eV |
| W-167 | — | 19.9 s | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (99.96%), Alpha decay (0.04%) | -42,093.21 keV | 7,976.7 keV | 2.29 × 10-17 eV |
| W-168 | — | 50.9 s | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%), Alpha decay (0.0032%) | -44,892.93 keV | 7,993.93 keV | 8.96 × 10-18 eV |
| W-169 | — | 74 s | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -44,917.87 keV | 7,994.54 keV | 6.17 × 10-18 eV |
| W-170 | — | 2.42 m | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -47,290.8 keV | 8,008.95 keV | 3.14 × 10-18 eV |
| W-171 | — | 2.38 m | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -47,086.1 keV | 8,008.12 keV | 3.19 × 10-18 eV |
| W-172 | — | 6.6 m | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -49,097.19 keV | 8,020.18 keV | 1.15 × 10-18 eV |
| W-173 | — | 7.6 m | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -48,727.39 keV | 8,018.33 keV | 1.00 × 10-18 eV |
| W-174 | — | 33.2 m | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -50,227.09 keV | 8,027.26 keV | 2.29 × 10-19 eV |
| W-175 | — | 35.2 m | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -49,632.8 keV | 8,024.11 keV | 2.16 × 10-19 eV |
| W-176 | — | 2.5 h | Electron capture (100%) | -50,641.61 keV | 8,030.11 keV | 5.07 × 10-20 eV |
| W-177 | — | 132.4 m | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -49,701.73 keV | 8,025.04 keV | 5.74 × 10-20 eV |
| W-178 | — | 21.6 d | Electron capture (100%) | -50,407.07 keV | 8,029.26 keV | 2.44 × 10-22 eV |
| W-179 | — | 37.05 m | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -49,295.25 keV | 8,023.28 keV | 2.05 × 10-19 eV |
| W-181 | — | 121.2 d | Electron capture (100%) | -48,233.95 keV | 8,017.95 keV | 4.36 × 10-23 eV |
| W-185 | — | 75.1 d | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -43,387.87 keV | 7,992.91 keV | 7.03 × 10-23 eV |
| W-187 | — | 23.80 h | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -39,904.04 keV | 7,975.12 keV | 5.32 × 10-21 eV |
| W-188 | — | 69.78 d | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -38,667.88 keV | 7,969.05 keV | 7.57 × 10-23 eV |
| W-189 | — | 11.6 m | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -35,809 keV | 7,954 keV | 6.56 × 10-19 eV |
| W-190 | — | 30.0 m | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -34,368.83 keV | 7,947.5 keV | 2.53 × 10-19 eV |
| W-191 | — | — | Unknown | -31,176.18 keV | 7,931.44 keV | — |
| W-192 | — | — | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -29,620 keV | 7,924 keV | — |
| W-193 | — | — | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -26,190 keV | 7,907 keV | — |
| W-194 | — | — | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -24,410 keV | 7,899 keV | — |
| W-195 | — | 160 ns | Beta-minus decay | -20,740 keV | 7,881 keV | 2.85 × 10-9 eV |
| W-196 | — | 160 ns | Beta-minus decay | -18,740 keV | 7,872 keV | 2.85 × 10-9 eV |
| W-197 | — | 160 ns | Beta-minus decay | -14,870 keV | 7,853 keV | 2.85 × 10-9 eV |