Jul 29 2013
Topics Covered
Introduction
Chemical Properties
Physical Properties
Mechanical Properties
Thermal Properties
Applications
Introduction
Vanadium is a hard, ductile metal with a silvery-gray appearance. It is harder than most metals and exhibits good corrosion resistance against alkalis and acids. Its atomic number is 23 and is represented by the symbol V. It belongs to the transition metal category, period 5 and group 4 of the periodic table.
Vanadium occurs in a wide range of minerals, the most popular being patronite, vanadinite, carnotite and bauxite. The largest resources of vanadium minerals are found in South Africa and Russia.
Chemical Properties
The chemical properties of vanadium are provided in the table below:
|
Chemical Data |
|
CAS number |
7440-62-2 |
|
Thermal neutron cross section |
4.7 barns/atom |
|
Electrode potential |
-1.50 V |
|
Ionic radius |
0.590 Å |
|
Electro negativity |
1.63 |
|
X-ray absorption edge |
2.269 Å |
|
Electrochemical equivalent |
0.380 g/A/h |
Physical Properties
The following table discusses the physical properties of vanadium.
|
Properties |
Metric |
Imperial |
|
Density |
6.1 g/cm3 |
0.221 lb/in3 |
|
Melting point |
1910 °C |
3470 °F |
|
Boiling point |
3407 °C |
6165 °F |
Mechanical Properties
The mechanical properties of vanadium are tabulated below.
|
Properties |
Metric |
Imperial |
|
Youngs Modulus |
128 GPa |
18465 ksi |
|
Shear modulus |
47 GPa |
6816 ksi |
|
Poissons Ratio |
0.37 |
0.37 |
|
Mohs Hardness |
7 |
7 |
Thermal Properties
The thermal properties of vanadium are tabulated below.
|
Properties |
Metric |
Imperial |
|
Thermal expansion co-efficient (@25°C/68-77°F) |
8.4 µm/m°C |
4.6 µin/in°F |
|
Thermal conductivity |
30.7 W/mK |
213 BTU in/hr.ft².°F |
Applications
The following are the application areas of vanadium:
-
Alloying of steel
-
Jet engines, high speed air frames
-
Crank shafts, gears and axles
-
Nuclear reactors
Vanadium compounds such as vanadium oxide are used in the manufacture of sulphuric acid and maleic anhydrides. Vanadium dioxide is used for coating glass to block infra red radiation.