Titanium Facts
Titanium Facts
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Interesting Titanium Facts: |
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Titanium was discovered in 1791 by William Gregor, but was named by Martin Heinrich Klaproth. |
A pure sample of titanium was not isolated until 1910 due to its ability to easily bond with other elements. |
Found in a wide variety of minerals, titanium is also found in every living thing. |
It also occurs in rocks, soils, and all bodies of water. |
Its most common compound is titanium dioxide. |
Titanium's chief use is as an alloy with many different elements, including iron and aluminium. |
Titanium is very resistant to corrosion and has a high strength-to-weight ratio. |
Titanium can be as strong as steel, but with weights as much as 45% lighter than steel. |
Titanium has five naturally occurring stable isotopes, with the most common being Ti-48. |
Of titanium's eleven radioactive isotopes, seven of them have a half-life of less than 33 seconds. |
Some of the radioisotopes have half-lives of less than half of one second. |
Since it has a high melting point (higher than 3000 degrees F), titanium is often used as a refractory metal. |
It is non-magnetic and is a very poor conductor of electricity. |
The surface of titanium oxidizes immediately when exposed to air. |
It is the ninth most prevalent element in the Earth's crust. |
Titanium makes up less than one percent of the Earth's crust, at .63% by mass. |
It is also the seventh most common metal on Earth. |
Titanium does not occur naturally, but is always found bonded to another element. |
Titanium played a key role in the Cold War, with both the US and the USSR stockpiling the metal and using it for military and defense. |
Titanium is not poisonous and is not likely to be rejected by the body, so it is used in a variety of surgical implants and tools. |
Titanium is being studied for the long-term (over 100,000 years) storage of nuclear waste since it is non-corrosive. |
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