Discovery date : 1801
Discovered by: Charles Hatchett
Origin of the name: The name comes from Niobe from Greek mythology,
who was the daughter of king Tantalus.
This was chosen because of niobium's chemical similarity to tantalum.
Allotropes :
~>NIOBIUM formerly columbium, is a chemical element with symbol Nb and atomic number 41. It is a soft, grey, ductile transition metal, often found in the minerals pyrochlore and columbite.
| FACT BOX | |||
| Group | 5 | Melting point | 2477°C, 4491°F, 2750 K |
| Period | 5 | Boiling point | 4741°C, 8566°F, 5014 K |
| Block | d | Density (g cm−3) | 8.57 |
| Atomic number | 41 | Relative atomic mass | 92.906 |
| State at 20°C | Solid | Key isotopes | 93Nb |
| Electron configuration | [Kr] 4d45s1 | CAS number | 7440-03-1 |
| ChemSpider ID | 22378 | ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database | |
When examining minerals in the British Museum in 1801, Charles Hatchett was intrigued by a specimen labelled columbite. He suspected it contained a new metal, and he was right. He heated a sample with potassium carbonate, dissolved the product in water, added acid and got a precipitate. However, further treatment did not produce the element itself, although he named it columbium, and so it was known for many years.
Others doubted columbium, especially after the discovery of tantalum which happened the following year. These metals occur together in nature, and are difficult to separate. In 1844 the German chemist Heinrich Rose proved that columbite contained both elements and he renamed columbium niobium.
A sample of the pure metal was produced in 1864 by Christian Blomstrand who reduced niobium chloride by heating it with hydrogen gas.