Tungsten or wolfram, a chemical element with the symbol W, is a rare metal found naturally occurring on Earth solely as a compound with other elements. The year 1781 saw Carl Wilhelm Scheele discover a new acid called tungstic acid from scheelite which when reduced produced the metal tungsten. It took another two years to isolate this new element into a metal. Thus in 1783 the new metal tungsten was discovered.

Physical Properties
Raw tungsten is a hard steel-grey metal which is brittle and hard to work with. Even in its purest form the metal preserves its property of hardness which is more than steel also and becomes ductile enough to be worked with.
In the list of all known metals in their pure forms, tungsten has the highest melting point, lowest vapour pressure and highest tensile strength. Tungsten possesses the lowest thermal expansion coefficient. All these are possible because of its strong metallic bond. When a small quantity of tungsten is alloyed with steel, it becomes even more hard and tough.

Chemical Properties
Tungsten is a non-reactive element. It shows no reaction with water, is immune to acid and base attacks and does not react with oxygen or air even at room temperatures. At different temperatures it can react with different metals and compounds.

Occurrence
Tungsten occurs chiefly in the minerals wolframite and scheelite. Various other tungsten minerals are found in variable ranges considering their level of abundance from moderate to very rare and which have almost no economical value at all.

Production Base
Many countries around the globe are credited with the production of tungsten. Of these, China is the leading producer followed by Canada, Russia, Vietnam, Bolivia, Democratic Republic of Congo and the United Kingdom sequentially.
While Canada has stopped production, Vietnam has markedly increased its output to overtake Russia and Bolivia. Though China remains the world’s leading producer, not only in production but also in export and consumption, certain restrictions have been imposed. With this, tungsten production is gradually on the rise outside China with many Tungsten Chemicals Supplier in India coming into action.

Applications
The application of tungsten id divided. Half of it is absorbed in the production of hard materials while the other half is used in alloys and with steel and less than 10% used with other chemical compounds.

Industrial Use
The major part of the production of tungsten is used in producing hard materials, of which the hardest is tungsten carbide a Tungsten Chemical which is an efficient electrical conductor. It is also used in making wear-resistant abrasives, cutting tools such as knives, drills, circular saws, dies, milling and turning tools required by the metalworking, woodworking, mining, petroleum and construction industries.
The jewellery industry also uses Tungsten Chemicals to make rings which are very hard and abrasive resistant. It has very high value in the arc welding industry.
As an alloy, it is very useful. It makes very good high-speed steel. Due to its high melting point it becomes a good raw material in the manufacture of rocket nozzles. It helps to shield radiation. The aerospace and automotive industries also use tungsten alloys. Superalloys which accommodate tungsten are used in making turbine blades and wear resistant parts and coatings.

Military
Tungsten Chemicals have huge applications in the Military. It is used in the manufacture of shells, grenades and missiles to create supersonic shrapnel. It was used as far back as World War II where Germany used it to produce shells for anti-tank guns.
The Indian Military is super advance nowadays. It is into manufacturing its own weapons. As such huge quantities of tungsten are required by India herself. To meet up the demands, many Tungsten Chemical Suppliers are in a position to do so.