You’re looking at a periodic table, scanning the transition metals, and you hit a wall. Gold is Au, which makes sense if you know Latin. Iron is Fe. But then you see it: Tungsten. The name starts with a T. It sounds heavy, metallic, almost Swedish. Yet, the element symbol for tungsten is a glaring, lonely W.
It’s confusing.
If you’ve ever felt like chemistry was designed specifically to trip you up, this little letter is a prime piece of evidence. Most people assume there’s a complex, high-level scientific reason for it, but honestly? It’s mostly just a historical tug-of-war between different languages and a very specific mineral that looks like "wolf cream."
The "Wolf" in the Periodic Table
To understand why we use a W, we have to talk about a mineral called wolframite. Long before tungsten was officially "discovered" as a pure element in the 1780s, tin miners in the Saxony-Bohemia region of Germany were dealing with a pesky substance that interfered with their smelting process. This mineral would devour the tin, significantly reducing the yield. They called it Wolf rahm, which literally translates to "wolf's froth" or "wolf's cream." It was as if a wolf were eating the tin.
German mineralogists were the ones doing the heavy lifting here. When the element was finally isolated, the German-speaking world called it Wolfram.
In 1783, two Spanish brothers, Juan José and Fausto Elhuyar, managed to isolate the metal from wolframite. They were working in Bergara, Spain, and they are officially credited with the discovery. Because they used wolframite to get it, the name Wolfram stuck in most of Europe.
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Why do we call it Tungsten then?
Basically, because of the Swedes.
Around the same time the Elhuyar brothers were working their magic, a Swedish chemist named Carl Wilhelm Scheele discovered a different mineral: calcium tungstate. He called it tung sten, which is Swedish for "heavy stone."
It’s a classic case of dual naming. The British and Americans eventually gravitated toward the Swedish "Tungsten," while the rest of the scientific world—and the IUPAC for a very long time—stuck with "Wolfram." In fact, even today, if you go to Germany or Sweden, you might hear it referred to as Wolfram. But the element symbol for tungsten remains W globally because the scientific community agreed to keep the symbol linked to the original German name, even if the English name changed.
Atomic Number 74: A Heavyweight Contender
Tungsten isn't just a naming quirk. It is a beast of an element. Located in Group 6 of the periodic table, right under chromium and molybdenum, it has an atomic number of 74.
If you pick up a cube of tungsten, it feels wrong. It’s so dense—$19.3 \text{ g/cm}^3$—that it rivals gold. It’s heavy. Really heavy.
But its real claim to fame is the melting point.
Tungsten has the highest melting point of all known metals. We are talking about $3422^{\circ}\text{C}$ ($6192^{\circ}\text{F}$). To put that in perspective, the surface of the sun is about $5500^{\circ}\text{C}$. This property is why, for over a century, tungsten was the undisputed king of the lightbulb.
When you flip a switch on an old-school incandescent bulb, electricity surges through a tiny, coiled wire. That wire is tungsten. It glows white-hot, emitting light, but it doesn't melt. Any other metal would just turn into a puddle or vaporize instantly. Tungsten just sits there, taking the heat.
The Hardness Factor
Beyond the heat, tungsten is incredibly hard. On the Mohs scale, it’s around a 7.5, but when you combine it with carbon to create tungsten carbide, it jumps to a 9. Only diamonds are significantly harder.
This makes it indispensable in modern industry. You’ll find it in:
- High-speed drill bits that need to cut through steel without dulling.
- Cutting tools for machining parts for jet engines.
- Armor-piercing ammunition (because it’s so dense and hard, it punches through plating like a hot needle through wax).
- Wedding bands for people who work with their hands and don't want their ring to scratch.
Why the Symbol W Matters in 2026
You might think tungsten is "old tech" because we’ve moved to LEDs. Not quite.
As we push further into green energy and high-end electronics, the element symbol for tungsten is appearing more frequently in supply chain discussions than ever before. It’s classified as a "critical raw material" by both the US and the EU. Why? Because you can't build a modern world without it.
Microchips and Semiconductors
In the world of nanometers, tungsten is used as a "contact" or "plug" material. It fills the tiny holes (vias) that connect different layers of a microprocessor. Because it's stable and doesn't expand or contract wildly with temperature changes, it keeps your phone from bricking itself when it gets warm.
Nuclear Fusion Hopes
This is where it gets really sci-fi.
In the quest for clean, limitless energy through nuclear fusion, scientists are building "Tokamaks"—giant, donut-shaped machines that hold a sun-like plasma. The "divertor," which is the part of the machine that handles the most intense heat and exhaust, is almost always made of tungsten.
Nothing else can survive the environment. If we ever get commercial fusion working, we’ll have the element symbol for tungsten to thank for keeping the reactor from melting into the floor.
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Myths and Misconceptions
People get a lot of things wrong about tungsten.
One common myth is that it's rare. It’s not actually that rare in the Earth’s crust—it’s about as common as tin. The problem is that it’s hard to extract. Most of the world’s supply (over 80%) comes from China, which creates a massive geopolitical headache for manufacturers elsewhere.
Another misconception is that it’s brittle. Pure tungsten is brittle at room temperature; if you hit a pure tungsten rod with a hammer, it might shatter. However, when it's alloyed or worked into a wire, it becomes incredibly tough.
Then there’s the "Gold Bar" scam. Because tungsten has almost the exact same density as gold, scammers have been known to take a bar of tungsten and plate it in 24k gold. To a standard scale and a visual inspection, it looks and weighs exactly like a $$100,000$ bar of bullion. Only ultrasound or x-ray fluorescence can easily tell the difference.
Taking Action: What You Can Do With This Knowledge
Whether you are a student, a hobbyist, or just someone curious about the world, understanding the element symbol for tungsten and its properties opens up a lot of practical doors.
- Check Your Tools: If you’re buying drill bits for a home project, look for "Tungsten Carbide." They cost more than high-speed steel (HSS), but they will last ten times longer if you're drilling into masonry or hard metals.
- Investigate Your Jewelry: If you’re looking for a durable ring, understand that tungsten carbide rings cannot be resized. Since the metal is so hard, it can't be cut and soldered like gold. Make sure your fit is perfect before you buy.
- Watch the Tech Market: If you follow stocks or technology trends, keep an eye on "conflict minerals." Tungsten is often lumped in with tin, tantalum, and gold (the 3TGs). Ethical sourcing is becoming a major part of how companies like Apple and Tesla report their manufacturing.
- Memorize the Symbol: Next time you’re playing trivia or looking at a periodic table, remember: W for Wolfram. It’s the German "wolf's froth" that changed the world.
Tungsten is the silent workhorse of the modern age. It’s in your pocket, in your ceiling, and potentially in the future of energy. The W might seem like a weird choice, but it’s a tribute to the messy, multilingual history of how we discovered the building blocks of our universe.