Question

What is W?
(A) Synthetic
(B) Artificial
(C) Both A and B
(D) None of the above

Answer 1

W is the chemical symbol, which is used to represent Tungsten element, whose atomic number is 74. It is a d block element. It belongs to the third transition series of the periodic table.

Complete Solution :
The chemical element with the symbol W is Tungsten. Tungsten is one of the rare metals found on the earth crust, combined with other elements in the chemical compound. It was identified as a new element in 1783. Tungsten is also known as Wolfram. Its atomic number is 74. Tungsten is super dense, and it is hard to melt them. Tungsten is a silver-white metal and can spontaneously ignite, when present in powdered form. Tungsten does not occur in free state.
Tungsten occurs in various ore forms.
- Tungstenite such as tungsten sulphide, $W{{F}_{6}}$
- Tungstate such as Scheelite (Calcium tungstate, $CaW{{O}_{4}}$ ), Stolzite (Lead tungstate, $PbW{{O}_{4}}$) and Wolframite.

Tungsten can also be extracted from $W{{F}_{6}}$ by other two methods such as
- Hydrogen Reduction:
$W{{F}_{6}}+3{{H}_{2}}\to W+6HF$

- Pyrolytic decomposition
$W{{F}_{6}}\to W+3{{F}_{2}}$
Therefore, we can say that Tungsten can only be extracted by natural methods. Hence the answer would be So, the correct answer is “Option D”.

Additional Information:
- Tungsten belongs to group 6 and period 6
- It has an electronic configuration of $[Xe]4{{f}^{14}}5{{d}^{4}}6{{s}^{2}}$.
- It has high melting and high boiling point.
- It is intrinsically brittle and hard.
- It is more ductile and malleable.
- It is used to harden saw blades and make drill bits.
- It is used for manufacturing of paints, filament wire for bulbs, and making television tubes.

Note: - China is one of the major producers of Tungsten, it has produced over 80% of the total Tungsten mined in 2016. It contains two-third of the world reserves.
- China is not only the leading producer, but also one of the major exporters and consumers of the tungsten products.
- Other dominant producers of Tungsten are Russia, Vietnam, Canada and Bolivia.