TITANIUM (TI)

last update 01 oct 08

* Titanium is a member of the transition metals family:

transition metals in the periodic table

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   TITANIUM / Ti / 22

   A hard, lustrous, silvery metal that resists attack by acids and
   burns in powdered form.  Five isotopes are found in nature:

     Ti<48/22> / 74%
     Ti<46/22> /  8%
     Ti<47/22> /  7.5%
     Ti<49/22> /  5.5%
     Ti<50/22> /  5%
      
   All are stable.  Titanium is usually found in the form of titanium
   dioxide, TiO2.

     atomic weight:       47.88
     abundance:           9th 
     density:             4.54 g/cc
     melting point:       1,660 C
     boiling point:       3,287 C
     valence:             2 3 4
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Titanium is produced at the level of about a hundred thousand tonnes a year. It is commonly used in aerospace applications where its high cost can be tolerated -- it's actually very common but it's hard to refine and hard to work with. Titanium dioxide, which is much easier to obtain than the metal, is cheap, and is used as a paint base and in cosmetics because it has excellent "covering power", coating surfaces easily. Titanium dioxide is bright white on its own, with the paint color or cosmetic color obtained from dyes in the mix.