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- Name : Niobium
- Symbol : Nb
- Atomic # : 41
- Atom weight: 92.906
- Melting P. : 2468
- Boiling P. : 4742
- Oxidation : +3, +5
- Pronounced : ni-OH-bee-em
- From : Named after Niobe, the mythological daughter of Tantalus
- Identified : Charles Hatchett in 1801
- Appearance : Shiny white, soft, ductile metal
- Note : Also known as columbium
-
- [Properties]
-
- Although it looks much like steel, pure niobium is soft and ductile. It
- resists corrosion at room temperature, presumably because of a thin film
- of niobium oxide that forms on all surfaces of the samples. The only acid
- that attacks niobium at room temperature is hydrofluoric acid. The metal
- becomes much more active at temperatures about 200 degrees. Niobium alloys
- quite well with iron and nickel to enhance the stability of these metals
- during welding operations. Alloys of niobium-tin and niobium-aluminum are
- superconductive.
- Niobium is a Group-VB, vanadium -type element. Niobium's chemical and
- physical properties are nearly identical to those of tantalum - the
- element appearing directly below niobium on the periodic table of elements.
-