HI,

 General question if anyone knows. What techniques did these chemists use
back in the 1800's to isolate element?

Bob Kondner

-----Original Message-----
From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David D. Hillman
Sent: Friday, July 02, 2010 4:01 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [TN] NTC Friday Element Quiz The Question

Hi folks - here is the Friday Element Quiz:

The Question:

        Only 5 metals have melting points higher than this element. It is
nontoxic and is used in biomedical implants. It is a constituent in
stainless steel, in nuclear fission reactor core structures, and is a
substitute for the element Ta for aqueous corrosion resistance processing
equipment. This element has nearly unlimited room temperature ductility
characteristics. This element that had two different names up to  the
early 1950's until the international chemist union settled the discussion
on which one was correct.  Who am I?

The Answer:

The element is Niobium! As the old adage states " you can spot old
American metallurgists from a thousand miles away, those troglodytic folks
still say "columbium"! An English chemist, Charles Hachett identified an
element he named "columbium" in 1801 and a German chemist, Heinrich Rose,
identified an element he named "niobium" in 1846. It took a century of
discussion before the element was officially named niobium in 1949!


Eric Christison was the first to correctly (and incorrectly after 1949)
answer to the quiz. I'll be shipping my chair to him and sitting on
several cases of Diet Coke until we get our 2011 budgets.

Everyone have a great weekend.


Dave Hillman
Rockwell Collins
[log in to unmask]

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