Hafnium

72

     

 

I'm shiny and bright, and silvery white. You better watch out or i might ignite! I bond with 40, we're hard to part. In the earth's crust is where i start.

 

Background
Properties
Uses
Interesting Facts
Hazards
Glossary
Bibliography

 

 

Background

Hafnium was discovered by D. Coster and G. von Hevesey, They discovered it by using x-ray analysis. X-ray analysis is when a stream of electrons is fired at a metal plate which causes the plate to give off x-rays. Each metal has a different x-ray pattern, and that’s how they determine what element it is. Hafnium was named in honor of Bohr’s hometown, Copenhagen, and was named by the Latin form of its name, hafnia. Also hafnium was one of the spaces on the original periodic table that was left blank. In fact, it wasn’t founded until 1923.

Properties

Hafnium has both chemical and physical properties.  It is a very bright, white – silvery metal and is very ductile. It does not combine easily with oxygen or react with water or cold acids. Hafnium is not very reactive although it is more active with hot acids. It has such similar properties with zirconium that it took scientists a long time to discover it. Hafnium is always found with zirconium. It also has the ability to soak up neutrons very easily, which zirconium does not.

 

Uses

One use of hafnium is that it is used in the construction of reactor control rods. It is also sometimes used in incandescent lamps. Another use from hafnium is that it is used for making binary compounds with interesting properties. Hafnium Carbide is the most refractory binary composition known to scientists today.

Interesting Facts

Hafnium has a half-life of 2 000 000 000 000 000 years, that is a long time. It is also pretty expensive, for one pound it can get up to between 100$ and 500$, depending on the purity and quantity. The yearly demand in the United States for hafnium is now 100 000lb. Hafnium is also extremely resistant to corrosion.

Hazards

Hafnium is toxic, and is the most dangerous when inhaled. Also powdered hafnium metal is dangerous because it can ignite and explode. So that is why scientists have to be very careful when handling it.

Glossary

Ductile: The ability of an object to be drawn out into a thin wire or threads.
Incandescent: Intensely bright; brilliant. Glowing or white with heat.
Binary: a compound the only has two elements or groups.
Refractory: hard or impossible to manage/control; stubborn or disobedient.
Composition: combining parts or elements to form a whole.
Quantity: A specific amount or measure of something.

Bibliography

- EasyBib. 2008 <http://www.easybib.com/>.
- The elements: what you really want to know. 1st ed.
- Gagnon, Steve. "It's Elemental." Its elemental. <http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele072.html>.
- "Hafnium." Hafnium. 15 Dec. 2003 <http://periodic.lanl.gov/elements/72.html>.
- Newton, David E. Chemical Elements from Carbon to Krypton. Vol. 2.
- Stwertka, Albert. A guide to the elements. 2nd ed.

 

Hafnium:
Symbol Hf
Atomic Number 72
Melting point, K 2503
Boiling point, K 5470
State at RT Solid
Oxidation States +4

 

 

 
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