Vanadium

Vanadium (sym. V, equiv. 51·2), a rare metal of little practical importance. The name was first given to a substance then believed to be an elementary metal, but which has since proved to be a compound. The discovery of this substance, the vanadiate of lead, was made by Del Rio in 1801, but it was not till 1867 that the metal itself was first prepared by Roscoe. Vanadium possesses a silvery lustre, and has a specific gravity of 5·5. It burns readily in a flame or when heated in oxygen. It is used for making aniline black, for colouring porcelain, and in metallurgy.