Vanadium
in chemistry, a metallic pentad element, discovered by Sefstrom in 1830, in the refinery slag of the iron ores of Taberg, in Sweden; symbol, V; at. wt. 51.2. It is extracted from the finely pulverized slag by defiagrating with niter and sodic carbonate, digesting the fused mass with a saturated solution of sal-ammoniac, and igniting the product in an open vessel. On heating the mass with potassium sium, and washing with water, pure vanadium is obtained as a brilliant metallic powder, having a silver-white luster. It is non-volatile, does not tarnish in the air, burns vividly when heated in oxygen, is insoluble in hydrochloric acid, dissolves slowly in hydrofluoric acid, but very rapidly in nitric acid, forming a blue solution. It forms five oxides, analogous to the oxides of nitrogen, and three chlorides, viz., the dichloride, the trichloride, and the tetrachloride.
The addition of metallic vanadium in very small quantities to chromium steel and other steels imparts to them a superior degree of tensile strength and elasticity.