Nickel Element

Have you ever imagined what is the basic component of the shiny monetary coins that you use to buy things that you want or need? These coins are made of various elements, one of which is nickel, primarily used to give them their characteristic shine. Nickel is one of the most abundant elements in the earth's crust. It has been used and employed for various purposes in various industries since it was found and extracted.

In this article, we will learn more about nickel, how it was found, its melting point, and some interesting facts, so let's start learning. 

Shiny Coin 

What is Nickel?

In the periodic table, nickel is placed in the First row of the 10th column nickel is also considered a transition element due to its location in the d-block elements and has the property of having different oxidation states by losing different or gaining a few numbers of electrons in its atom.

An atom of Nickel element has 28 electrons and protons along with 30 neutrons in its most abundant form. Scientifically, the nickel symbol is ‘Ni’.

Nickel Facts

Below are listed some of the characteristics and properties of nickel element:

1. This element is shiny and silvery white in colour, which is hard to an extent but is also malleable. 

2. It has magnetic properties at room temperature, can also be polished to a shiny surface, and is used to coat surfaces of various elements to prevent them from corrosion.

3. Nickel is one of the essential elements in making the core of our planet Earth.

4. It is one of the most abundant elements in earth's crust. Mostly pure nickel is mined from various ores. Russia, Canada and Australia are among the world's largest nickel producers.

5. Nickel was primarily discovered in 1751. It was mined for the use of various industries and primarily for its magnetic, electric and heat-conducting properties.

6. Astonishingly, the metalloids or the fragments of asteroids that enter Earth's atmosphere and crash on the surface are made of nickel and iron, just like the core of the earth.

7. It is believed that most of the nickel found in Canada is primarily bought by a metalloid clash over the surface of the land span of the country.

8. Nickel has about five stable isotopes that occur in nature, namely nickel 58, nickel-60, nickel-61, 62 and 64, but the most abundant one is nickel 58.

Properties of Nickel Element 

• Nickel Symbol - Ni

• Atomic Number of Nickel Element - 28

• Atomic Weight of Nickel Element: 58.6934

• Classification of Nickel Element: Transition metallic element

• Phase at Room Temperature of Nickel Element: Solid

• The Density of Nickel Element: 8.9 grams per cm cubed

• Melting Point of Nickel Element: 1455°C, 2651°F

• Boiling Point of Nickel Element: 2913°C, 5275°F

• Nickel was Discovered: in the year 1751 by Axel Cronstedt.

Nickel Facts

Till now, we saw all the facts and properties of the element of nickel. Now let's look at some interesting nickel facts:

• A five-cent coin is known as a Nickel in the United States and is made up of about 75% of copper and 25% of nickel.

• Nickel is the second most abundant element in Earth's crust after iron.

• Nickel can also be found as a component in some plant cells as well as some microbes.

• Glasses are given a greenish tint to them by the application of nickel on it.

• The  percentage of nickel recycled every year to that of the  amount used every year is about 39% only.

• Just like in nickel, iron and cobalt also have similar magnetic properties to them.

Summary

To conclude all the learnings from this article, we can say that nickel has been useful for various purposes since its discovery. It is employed as a magnet and a good heat conductor and much more. In this article, we also learned about nickel properties that are unique and make them different from other elements in the periodic table. We hope that this article cleared all your doubts regarding the nickel element.