Tungsten: historical information

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Tungsten was discovered by Fausto and Juan Jose de Elhuyar at 1783 in Spain. Origin of name: from the Swedish words "tung sten" meaning "heavy stone" (the origin of the symbol W is "wolfram ", named after the tungsten mineral wolframite). Further information on origin of name and discovery dates

Tungsten used to be known as wolfram (from wolframite, said to be named from wolf rahm or spumi lupi, because the ore interfered with the smelting of tin and was supposed to devour the tin). The de Elhuyar brothers found an acid in wolframite in 1783 that they succeeded in reducing to the elemental metal with charcoal.

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tungsten atomic number