10 Interesting Niobium Facts

Find out the element in the periodic table with the atomic number 41 in Niobium Facts. Niobium is symbolized in Nb. You can check the atomic number, boiling point, atomic weight and melting point of Niobium by reading the following post below:

Niobium Facts 1: the melting and boiling point

The melting point of Niobium is 2,477 C/4,491 F. It has the boiling point of 4,744 C/ 8,571 F. The atomic weight of niobium is 92.90638. Check another metal in nickle facts.

Niobium Facts 2: name

The element Niobium got the name from the Greek mythology. It was taken from the daughter of Tantalus, Niobe. When she wept for her slain children, she turned into stone.

Niobium Element

Niobium Facts 3: discovery of Niobium

Let’s talk about the discovery of Niobium. In 1734, John Winthrop discovered an ore in Massachusetts. He decided to send the ore to England. For many years, the ore was only kept in British Museum Collections. Charles Hatchett analyzed the ore in 1801.  When he analyzed the ore, he found a new element. He named it columbium. It was named after the poetic name of America, Columbia.

Niobium Facts 4: William Hyde Wollaston

The discovery of Niobium was not easy. William Hyde Wollaston made a comparison of columbite and tantalite in 1809. This English chemist found out that columbium was actually the element of tantalum. Both are not easy to isolate and often found together.

Niobium Facts

Niobium Facts 5: Heinrich Rose

Heinrich Rose made another experiment using the samples of tantalite and columbite in 1844. The experiment generated two kinds of acids. He called niobic acid and pelopic acid. But then he called it niobium.

Niobium Facts 6: Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac

Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac was a Swiss chemist who isolated metallic niobium 20 years after the experiment of Rose in 1844. He got niobium by heating chloride in a hydrogen atmosphere.

Niobium Metal

Niobium Facts 7: symbol

If you look at the periodic table, it is symbolized Nb. Do you know that for more than 100 years, it was called Cb or columbium in United States?

Niobium Facts 8: characteristics of niobium

Niobium is characterized with soft, ductile, white, and shiny transition mental. When you expose the metal with air for a long time at room temperature, the white color changes into blush cast.

Niobium Pic

Niobium Facts 9: isotopes

You can find 18 known isotopes of niobium today.

Niobium Facts 10: the stable isotope

The stable isotope of Niobium is Nb-93.

Niobium

Niobium is often used to create superconductive magnets and to produce jewelry. Are you interested reading facts about niobium?