MANGANESE (MN)

last update 01 oct 08

* Manganese is a member of the transition metals family:

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   MANGANESE / Mn / 25

   A hard, brittle, silvery metal that burns in oxygen as a powder.
   It rusts very much like iron, and dissolves in dilute acids.  Only
   one isotope, Mn<55/25>, is found in nature; it is stable.

     atomic weight:       54.938049
     abundance:           12th
     density:             7.4 g/cc
     melting point:       1,244 C
     boiling point:       1,962 C
     valence:             1 <2> 3 4 6 7
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Manganese metal is produced at the level of millions of tonnes a year, though it is too brittle to be useful by itself; it is mostly used as an alloying element to produce wear-resistant steels. Manganese compounds are produced at the level of hundreds of thousands of tonnes a year. The most important, manganese oxide (MnO2) is used in synthesis of rubbers and as an industrial catalyst.