Titanium | Properties | Uses | Other Details

Titanium Properties Uses and other Details

What is Titanium

Titanium is a metal and chemically it is an element. It is a white-silver colored very strong and light metal. The symbol for titanium is Ti, and its atomic number is 22. Its atom contains 22 protons, 22 electrons, and 26 neutrons, the atomic weight of titanium is 47.867. Its density is 4.506 grams per cubic centimeter. Titanium is a solid at room temperature, with a melting point of 1660 °C and a boiling point of 3287 °C.

Titanium Properties Uses and other Details

Properties of Titanium Metal

• Titanium is a strong, ductile and light metal of shiny silver colour. Titanium has the highest strength to weight ratio of all metals.
• Titanium is a highly reactive metal. When exposed to the open atmosphere, a layer of titanium oxide is formed due to the action of oxygen on titanium, this layer sticks very strongly to the titanium. This layer prevents further oxidation of titanium, and this layer makes titanium an excellent anti-corrosion metal. Titanium metal is also corrosion resistant from sea water, acids and aqua regia.
• The corrosion resistance of titanium is several times higher than that of stainless steel.
• The electrical and thermal conductivity of titanium is very low.
• Titanium is a metal as strong as steel but weighs much less than steel.
• Titanium tends to lose its strength when heated above 430 °C.
• Titanium is a paramagnetic metal, meaning it is slightly attracted by magnets.
• Alloy is made by mixing iron, aluminum, vanadium, molybdenum, curmium, cobalt, nickel, copper etc. in titanium metal. The alloy made from it is strong, light in weight, corrosion resistant and easily weldable.
• Titanium is one of the few metals that ignites in the presence of pure nitrogen. It ignites in the presence of pure nitrogen at a temperature of 800 °C, and forms titanium nitrite. Due to this property of titanium, titanium filament is used in titanium sublimation pumps to create very low pressure.
• Titanium metal reacts very readily with oxygen at 1200 °C in normal air and at 610 °C in the presence of pure oxygen to form titanium oxide TiO2, which is used as a pigment. Titanium oxide is also called titanium white or pigment white.
• Titanium is a thermodynamically very reactive metal. When heated in normal environment, it starts burning even before its melting point. Therefore, titanium is heated in a vacuum or an inert atmosphere to melt it.
• Titanium does not react with water, but on heating water, titanium reacts with water vapor to form titanium oxide and hydrogen gas.
• Titanium does not react with halogens at room temperature, but titanium corrodes when exposed to halogens at temperatures above 200 °C.

Uses of Titanium Metal

• Titanium is mixed with other metals such as iron, aluminum, molybdenum etc. to make high quality alloys, which are strong and light in weight.
• Titanium oxide is used as a white pigment, which is used in the paint industry to make paint.
• Titanium is used in the aerospace industry, airplanes, jet engines, missiles, etc. are made from titanium and its alloys.
• Titanium is a very friendly metal for the human body, this metal does not have any side effects in the body, so this metal is also used in the medical industry. Dental implants and heart stents are made using titanium.
• Titanium has the same density as human bone and is a very strong metal. Therefore, it is used to make surgical implants used inside the body such as hip ball, socket, joint replacement, etc.
• Titanium is strong and light in weight, hence surgical instruments, medical devices, wheelchairs, prosthesis parts (artificial organs) etc. are made from it.
• Titanium metal is also used in making sports equipment. By this strong and light weight racing cycles are made, golf clubs are made, mountain climbing equipment etc. are made.
• Titanium Nitrite (TiN) is used to make high quality drill bits and cutting tools, drill bits made from it last 6 to 10 times longer than ordinary drill bits.
• Titanium metal is used to make high quality costly electronic gadgets like mobile phones, laptops, watches etc.
• Titanium metal is also used in making jewelry.
• Titanium metal is used to make parts of ships and submarines that come in contact with salt water.
• Titanium metal is also used in making nuclear reactors. Titanium and titanium alloys are used to make heat exchange units in nuclear reactors.
• Distillation plants are made using titanium metal, where sea salt water is converted into potable sweet water.
• Titanium is used in firecrackers.

Interesting Facts about Titanium

• Titanium was discovered by William Gregor in 1791 in England.
• Titanium is the 9th most abundant element on earth. It is found in soil and rocks on earth, besides titanium is also found in trace amounts in every living animal and plant.
• The first aircraft built using titanium was the SR 71 Blackbird. This aircraft used to fly at a speed of 3500 kilometers per hour ie 3 times more than the speed of sound. Due to flying at such a high speed, the surface temperature of this airplane increased a lot due to friction with the air. At that temperature, the materials used in ordinary airplanes melt, so titanium metal was used to make this airplane.
• More than 90% of the total titanium production is used to make pigments which are used in the paint industry.
• Titanium metal is 60 percent heavier than aluminum, but it is twice as strong as aluminum.
• Containers made of titanium metal are used to store nuclear waste.
• Apart from Earth, titanium is also found on meteorites, moon and other planets.
• The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, is completely covered with titanium plated tiles. 

Detailed Information on Some other Metals

• Gold Properties Uses and other Details
• Silver Properties Uses and Other Details
• Mercury Properties Uses and other Details
• Platinum Properties Uses and other details
• Titanium Properties Uses and other Details
• Aluminium Properties Uses and other Details
• Copper Properties Uses and Other Details
• Iron Metal Properties Uses and Other Details
• Nickel Metal Properties Uses and other Details
• Plutonium | Properties | Uses | Other Details
• Uranium | Properties | Uses | Other Details
• Lithium | Properties | Uses | Other Details
• Thorium | Properties | Uses | Facts
• Sodium Metal | Properties | Uses | Facts