Tungsten: the essentials Pure tungsten is a steel-gray to tin-
white metal. Tungsten has the highest melting point and lowest
vapour pressure of all metals, and at temperatures over 1650°C
has the highest tensile strength. The metal oxidises in air and
must be protected at elevated temperatures. It has excellent
corrosion resistance and is attacked only slightly by most
mineral acids. Tungsten: historical information Tungsten used to
be known as wolfram (from wolframite, said to be named from wolf
rahm or spumi lupi, because the ore interfered with the smelting
of tin and was supposed to devour the tin). The de Elhuyar
brothers found an acid in wolframite in 1783 that they succeeded
in reducing to the elemental metal with charcoal. Tungsten:
physical properties Tungsten: orbital properties Isolation:
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