Vanadium
Vanadium (V) is element 23, a transition metal in group 5, period 4, with an atomic mass of 50.9415 u. It is a solid at room temperature and melts at 1909.85 °C. Its electron configuration is [Ar] 4s² 3d³.
Vanadium is a hard, silvery-grey transition metal best known for the strength it lends to steel, even in very small amounts. Its story of discovery is unusually tangled — it was found, doubted, and then found again by a different chemist decades later before it was firmly established as a distinct element.
- Group · Period
- 5 · 4
- At room temp
- solid
- Melts at
- 2183 K
- Density
- 6 g/cm³
- Discovered
- 1801
Key facts about vanadium
Quick answers, built from the sourced data in the property tables.
- What is the electron configuration of vanadium?
- The electron configuration of vanadium is [Ar] 4s² 3d³. Written out in full, that is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s² 3d³.
- What is the density of vanadium?
- The density of vanadium is 6 g/cm³.
- What are the melting and boiling points of vanadium?
- Vanadium melts at 2183 K (1909.85 °C, 3469.73 °F) and boils at 3680 K (3406.85 °C, 6164.33 °F).
- What is the electron affinity of vanadium?
- The electron affinity of vanadium is 0.525 eV, which is about 50.7 kJ/mol.
- How many stable isotopes does vanadium have?
- Vanadium has one stable isotope: V-51 (99.75%).
Uses
The overwhelming majority of vanadium produced worldwide goes into steel alloys, where even small amounts significantly increase strength, hardness, and resistance to wear and fatigue. Vanadium steel is used in tools, springs, axles, and structural components that need to withstand repeated stress — it was famously adopted in the early automotive industry to make lighter, tougher car parts. Vanadium compounds are also used as catalysts, notably vanadium pentoxide, which speeds up the industrial production of sulfuric acid.
More recently, vanadium has found a role in energy storage: vanadium redox flow batteries use dissolved vanadium ions to store and release electrical energy, an approach being explored for storing power from solar and wind installations at a large scale.
History
Vanadium was first identified in 1801 by Andrés Manuel del Río, a Spanish-Mexican mineralogist working in Mexico, who found a new element in a lead ore and initially named it “erythronium.” He was later persuaded by another chemist that his discovery was merely impure chromium and withdrew his claim. Nearly three decades later, in 1830, Swedish chemist Nils Gabriel Sefström independently rediscovered the same element and named it vanadium after Vanadis, a Norse goddess, inspired by the strikingly colorful compounds it forms.
Fun facts
- A small addition of vanadium can noticeably toughen steel, and vanadium steel was famously used in the frame and axles of the early Ford Model T.
- Vanadium is named after Vanadis, a Norse goddess, because its compounds show such a striking range of colors.
- Vanadium redox flow batteries, which use the metal's dissolved ions to store energy, are being deployed for large-scale grid energy storage.
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Frequently asked questions
Why does vanadium make steel stronger?
Even tiny amounts of vanadium mixed into steel form very fine, hard particles within the metal's structure that resist deformation. This refines the steel's grain structure, making the resulting alloy noticeably tougher and more resistant to wear than plain steel, which is why it's prized for tools, axles, and other stressed components.
Who actually discovered vanadium?
Credit is genuinely split. Spanish-Mexican mineralogist Andrés Manuel del Río found it first, in 1801, but was talked out of his own discovery by another chemist who wrongly claimed it was just impure chromium. Swedish chemist Nils Gabriel Sefström then independently rediscovered it in 1830 and gave it the name vanadium, which stuck.
What makes vanadium useful in batteries?
Vanadium can exist in several different oxidation states that are easily converted between one another while dissolved in solution. Vanadium redox flow batteries exploit this by storing energy in tanks of vanadium solution, letting them scale up to large capacities more easily than conventional batteries, which makes them attractive for storing renewable energy on the grid.
Compounds
4 notable compounds containing V
- NH4VO3salt
Ammonium metavanadate
A pale yellow-white crystalline salt that is the standard commercial starting material for manufacturing other vanadium compounds, since it decomposes cleanly to vanadium oxides on heating.
Used for: Industrial precursor for vanadium pentoxide and vanadium catalysts
- VCl3salt
Vanadium(III) chloride
A violet, moisture-sensitive solid that serves as a common laboratory entry point into vanadium chemistry, since it can be readily converted into a wide range of other vanadium(III) compounds.
Used for: Precursor for vanadium catalysts used in olefin polymerization
- VO2oxide
Vanadium(IV) oxide
A dark blue-black solid notable for its sharp metal-insulator transition near 68°C, at which point its electrical and optical properties change abruptly as the vanadium shifts between electronic states.
Used for: Research material for thermochromic smart-window coatings and switching devices
- V2O5oxide
Vanadium(V) oxide
An orange-yellow solid and the most important commercial vanadium compound, formed from vanadium's most stable +5 oxidation state. It readily gives up and accepts oxygen, which makes it a versatile industrial catalyst.
Used for: Catalyst in sulfuric acid production (contact process) and in vanadium redox flow batteries
Isotopes
26 known isotopes
Swipe to see all columns →
| Isotope | Natural abundance | Half-life | Decay mode | Mass excess | Binding energy / nucleon | Decay width | Spin/parity | Magnetic moment | Quadrupole moment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V-50 | 0.25% | 2.65E+17 Y | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (99.3%), Beta-minus decay (0.7%) | -49,223.24 keV | 8,695.9 keV | 5.46 × 10-41 eV | 6+ | 3.3442 μN | 0.21 b |
| V-51 stable | 99.75% | Stable | — | -52,203.11 keV | 8,742.09 keV | — | 7/2- | 5.1464 μN | -0.052 b |
| V-42 | — | 55 ns | Proton emission | -7,620 keV | 7,824 keV | 8.30 × 10-9 eV | — | — | — |
| V-43 | — | 79.3 ms | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%), ECP | -17,916.36 keV | 8,069.51 keV | 5.75 × 10-15 eV | — | — | — |
| V-44 | — | 111 ms | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%), ECA | -23,808.08 keV | 8,203.46 keV | 4.11 × 10-15 eV | (2)+ | — | — |
| V-45 | — | 547 ms | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -31,886.44 keV | 8,380.04 keV | 8.34 × 10-16 eV | 7/2- | — | — |
| V-46 | — | 422.50 ms | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -37,075.9 keV | 8,486.14 keV | 1.08 × 10-15 eV | 0+ | — | — |
| V-47 | — | 32.6 m | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -42,007.07 keV | 8,582.23 keV | 2.33 × 10-19 eV | 3/2- | — | — |
| V-48 | — | 15.974 d | Electron capture / beta-plus decay (100%) | -44,478.01 keV | 8,623.07 keV | 3.31 × 10-22 eV | 4+ | 2.012 μN | — |
| V-49 | — | 330 d | Electron capture (100%) | -47,962.16 keV | 8,682.91 keV | 1.60 × 10-23 eV | 7/2- | 4.47 μN | — |
| V-52 | — | 3.743 m | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -51,443.03 keV | 8,714.57 keV | 2.03 × 10-18 eV | 3+ | — | — |
| V-53 | — | 1.543 m | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -51,851.68 keV | 8,710.14 keV | 4.93 × 10-18 eV | 7/2- | — | — |
| V-54 | — | 49.8 s | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -49,898.27 keV | 8,662.14 keV | 9.16 × 10-18 eV | 3+ | — | — |
| V-55 | — | 6.54 s | Beta-minus decay (100%) | -49,125.14 keV | 8,637.34 keV | 6.98 × 10-17 eV | (7/2-) | — | — |
| V-56 | — | 216 ms | Beta-minus decay (100%), Beta-minus, neutron emission | -46,183.4 keV | 8,574.7 keV | 2.11 × 10-15 eV | 1+ | — | — |
| V-57 | — | 0.32 s | Beta-minus decay (100%), Beta-minus, neutron emission | -44,435.06 keV | 8,535.2 keV | 1.43 × 10-15 eV | (7/2-) | — | — |
| V-58 | — | 191 ms | Beta-minus decay (100%), Beta-minus, neutron emission | -40,430.58 keV | 8,458.16 keV | 2.39 × 10-15 eV | (1+) | — | — |
| V-59 | — | 97 ms | Beta-minus decay (100%), Beta-minus, neutron emission (0.03%) | -37,610.62 keV | 8,403.8 keV | 4.70 × 10-15 eV | (5/2- 3/2-) | — | — |
| V-60 | — | 122 ms | Beta-minus decay (100%), B-2N, Beta-minus, neutron emission | -33,087.4 keV | 8,322.88 keV | 3.74 × 10-15 eV | — | — | — |
| V-61 | — | 48.3 ms | Beta-minus decay (100%), Beta-minus, neutron emission (10%), B-2N | -30,177.12 keV | 8,271.04 keV | 9.45 × 10-15 eV | (3/2- 5/2-) | — | — |
| V-62 | — | 33.6 ms | Beta-minus decay (100%), Beta-minus, neutron emission | -25,213.16 keV | 8,187.76 keV | 1.36 × 10-14 eV | — | — | — |
| V-63 | — | 17 ms | Beta-minus decay (100%), Beta-minus, neutron emission (35%) | -21,740.14 keV | 8,130.78 keV | 2.68 × 10-14 eV | 7/2- | — | — |
| V-64 | — | 15 ms | Beta-minus decay (100%), Beta-minus, neutron emission, B-3N | -16,320 keV | 8,045 keV | 3.04 × 10-14 eV | (0 1 2) | — | — |
| V-65 | — | 360 ns | Beta-minus decay (100%), Beta-minus, neutron emission | -12,110 keV | 7,981 keV | 1.27 × 10-9 eV | — | — | — |
| V-66 | — | 360 ns | Beta-minus decay, Beta-minus, neutron emission | -6,300 keV | 7,894 keV | 1.27 × 10-9 eV | — | — | — |
| V-67 | — | 620 ns | Beta-minus decay, Beta-minus, neutron emission, B-2N | -1,744 keV | 7,829 keV | 7.36 × 10-10 eV | — | — | — |
Spin/parity describes the nucleus's intrinsic angular momentum and symmetry. Magnetic moment (in nuclear magnetons, μN) and quadrupole moment (in barns, b) describe the shape of the nucleus's charge distribution — a nonzero quadrupole moment means the nucleus isn't perfectly spherical. These are only measured for a subset of isotopes, mostly stable or long-lived ones, so many rows show "—" rather than a value.