Titanium

Titanium has low density and high strength, is corrosion resistant, and is easily fabricated.   Titanium is often alloyed with other metals, viz., aluminum, molybdenum, manganese, iron and other metals where light weight and strength are required at high temperatures.   Titanium is as strong as steel, but 45% lighter.   it is twice as strong as aluminum, but weighs 60% more.   Its resistance to salt water corrosion makes it useful in exposed ship parts and equipment.   Titanium dioxide, TiO₂, is used in house and artist's paints because it is permanent and covers well.   Titanium paint is an excellent reflector, so it is used in solar observatories where heat causes poor visibility.   Titanium tetracholoride is used to iridize glass and produce smoke screens because it fumes greatly in air. ^{Lide 4-31}

Titanium was discovered in 1791 by the English minister, William Gregor, an amateur mineralogist.   It was named in 1795 by Martin Heinrich Klaproth.   Impure titanium was prepared by Nilson and Pettersson in 1887 and pure titanium was obtained by Hunter in 1910 by heating TiCl₄ with sodium in a stell bomb.   It was produced commercially beginning in 1946 when Kroll reduced titanium tetrachloride with with magnesium.   It is purified by decomposing the iodide.   Titanium is found in rutile, ilmenite, sphene, and in the titanates and iron ores. ^{Lide 4-31}