In 1779 Peter Woulfe, an Irish chemist, claimed the existence of a new element tungsten. He declared it from his analysis of the mineral wolframite (an iron manganese tungstate mineral). At that time, there was no suitable furnace to reduce the oxide, so pure tungsten was not obtained.
Tungsten was finally isolated by Fausto and Juan Jose de Elhuyar in 1783. They were two brothers based in Spain. They obtained tungsten by reducing acidified wolframite with charcoal. Its chemical symbol, W, comes from the original name of the element, that is, Wolfram. Tungsten is one among the five major refractory metals, which have very high resistance to heat and damage.
This element is one of the toughest materials found in nature. It is highly dense and almost impossible to melt.
Picture Credit : Google
