Ask A Scientist© Chemistry Archive

name       Jason T.
status       student
age          20s

Question -   Is tungsten the strongest metal known to man? By
strongest I mean in terms of malleablility and durability. If it is not
tungsten, then what metal would it be? Thank you so much.
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Your question does not have a single answer because "strongest",
"malleability", and "durability" are different criteria of "strength" and no
one metal wins all the prizes.

For MALLEABILITY: Cu, Ag, Au, Pt, Ga, In, Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, and other
metals are all more malleable than W.

When you say "durability" you need to specify durable to "what". Certainly,
W is more durable to high temperature than the above list, and most other
metals, because it has the highest melting point.

If by "durability" you mean resistance to attack by O2 or acids, certainly W
is high on the list, but so are Au and Pt.

The short answer is there is no single metal that is the "best" in all
categories of durability.

Vince Calder
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