Tungsten, otherwise known on the periodic table as the letter W, was discovered by Axel Fredrik Cronstedt. He was born on December 23, 1722, and died on August 19, 1765. In 1751, he discovered tungsten, which means heavy stone in Swedish. He first found it in Scheelite, which is a calcium tungstate mineral (CaWO₄), that is important to the element of Tungsten. Technically, Carl Scheele was the one who thought of the idea to separate the (CaWO₄) from each other, but he never got credit for any of the materials that he actually found. More commonly known to the people of today are two Spanish brothers named Juan José and Fausto Elhuyar. They actually separated the elements from each other, gaining more fame than the other two scientists. Surprisingly, it seems that the eldest brother, Juan José, is not getting as much credit as his younger brother, Fausto Elhuyar. Fausto was born on October 11, 1755 in Logroño, Spain to his French parents from Hasparren. Between 1773 and 1777 he studied math, physics, surgery, chemistry, medicine, and natural history with his brother in Paris. In 1781, he was elected as a member to the Real Sociedad Bascongada de Amigos del Paris (Royal Basque Society of Friends to the Country) This also earned him a seat at the Vergara as a teacher. He was taught how to extract and purify minerals. He collaborated with François Chavaneau to purify platinum as well as discover Tungsten with Juan José, his brother. In 1785 he “retired” and was chosen as a General Director of Minery in México. But before he made his move to Mexico, he decided to tour Europe one more time to study the refining process of silver. He worked there until 1822, or until the Mexicans became independent from Spain. He died in Madrid on January 6, 1833. His brother, Juan José, does not have as much information on him. He was born on June 15, 1754 in Logroño, Spain. He died in Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia on September 20, 1796. Tungsten was discovered when Juan José and Fausto took samples of the mineral wolframite ((Fe, Mn) WO4) (iron manganese tungstate mineral). Tungsten, today, is still found in Wolframite and still has the same extracting process as it did when Juan José and Fausto found them in 1783. This mineral, Wolframite, is mostly found in quartz veins in China, which has about 60% of the production of Tungsten. Other production areas include Portugal, Russia, Australia, Thailand, South Korea, Rwanda, Bolivia, the United States, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It contains many other elements and has other associations with other elements and minerals such as scheelite. The associated minerals include cassiterite, scheelite, bismuth, quartz, pyrite, galena, sphalerite, and asernopyrite. Tungsten- in Swedish- literally translates into heavy stone (tung-sten). Tungstens’ symbol comes from its Germanic name Wolfram, hence the reason why it is “W.” Wolfram is also another element that mainly consists of tungsten. It is a Tungsten ore that Axel Fredrik Cronstedt first found in its original state without separating the other materials to actually singularize tungsten by itself. Tungsten has the highest melting point of all metals, ranking in at 1650oC being the most tensile of all elements. It’s boiling point is 5660oC tungsten is considered a transition metal (both

ductile and malleable, and able to conduct electricity and heat) which includes the boxes in rows
4-7 between groups 2-13. Tungsten is also considered the second strongest element, behind carbon. When Tungsten is combined with carbon, it creates the hardest material that can be chemically created. It’s atomic number is 74, and the atomic mass is 183.95 g.mol.
Tungsten is described as a hard, dense, silvery-white, lustrous metal that tarnishes when it comes in contact with the air. In a powder form tungsten appears to become gray. It is considered a metal, one out of five refractory metals- niobium, molybdenum, tantalum, tungsten, and rhenium. Tungsten is a solid, that can technically be turned into a liquid once it melts at 2133 K.
Tungsten is involved with many different medical uses. For example, if you’ve ever had an X-ray, you’ve had that heavy apron put on you to shield you from the radiation. That is usually made out of Lead, Pb, which somewhat repels the radiation. Scientists who are trying to get rid of the Lead aprons have reverted to Tungsten. Tungsten is a safer, but heavier, alternative to repel the rays in a less harmful way to the human body. Another use for Tungsten is that it was used in lightbulbs as filaments because it could conduct hot temperatures of heat in the bulbs. It is still used today because it can conduct heat better than any other metal. Of course, nothing is set in stone, so Tungsten can combust if the conditions are right. Tungsten can also be used to make jewelry such as a ring. It’s actually a compound called Tungsten Carbide, which is Carbon and Tungsten combined. It’s actually cheaper than white gold, gold, or titanium. One more product of
Tungsten are bullets made from the element. They are cheap, heavy, and easy to come by.
Tungsten is extremely beneficial to living beings because of the resources that come out of it. Tungsten is lowering deaths from radiation when someone gets X-rays, but in certain cases, when someone is trying to buy a tungsten carbide ring, they expect it to last forever because it is made with 2 of the strongest elements on the periodic table. But there are many reports that they are actually breaking! People are getting into arguments as to which it should even be made anymore and just stick to the main 3 bands and rings (white gold, gold, and titanium). This element is considered an extremely good element that is there to help people, rather than hurt people.
I personally believe that this element is a great element to do a report on. I never knew that Lead was harmful to people and that Tungsten was a better and safer element to use for X-Rays. This was a fun project to do because it was fun to learn about the different elements and how they work with or against Tungsten. In all this project that I thought was going to be a drag, actually turned out to be fun!