Tungsten

Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements.

What the numbers say

At standard temperature and pressure Tungsten is a solid, sitting in period 6, group 6 of the d-block.

Its melting point of 3695 K (3422 °C) is the 2nd highest of the 110 elements with a measured value — one of the most refractory elements there is.

At 19.25 g/cm³ it is the 8th densest of 96 elements with a quoted density.

Pauling electronegativity is 2.36. Paired with oxygen (3.44) that is a difference of 1.08, which puts the bond polar covalent — oxides here tend to be semiconducting or refractory rather than salt-like.

In the solid state it takes a body-centered cubic structure — BCC packing is stronger but shows a ductile-to-brittle transition as temperature drops.

It is reported in 8 oxidation states (-2, -1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), which sets how many distinct compounds and phases it can form.

First identified in 1783.

Crystal structure

Where tungsten shows up in engineering materials

1 entry in the materials library names it directly:

• Tungsten (pure) — Refractory metal

Check it against computed structures

The structure search queries the Materials Project, OQMD and the Open Materials Database for computed crystal structures containing W — with DFT formation energy, hull stability and band gap where the provider publishes them.