Nickel
For coins.
Atomic Number: 28
Atomic Symbol: Ni
Atomic Weight: 58.70
Electron Configuration:[Ar]4s^2 3d^8History
(German Nickel, Satan or Old Nick's and from kupfernickel, Old Nick's copper) Cronstedt discovered
nickel in 1751 in kupfernickel (niccolite).
Sources
Nickel is found as a constitutent in most meteorites and often serves as one of the criteria for
distinguishing a meteorite from other minerals. Iron meteorites, or siderites, may contain iron alloyed
with from 5 percent to nearly 20 percent nickel. Nickel is obtained commercially from pentlandite and
pyrrhotite of the Sudbury region of Ontario, a district that produces about 30 percent of the world's
supply of nicke.
Other deposits are found in New Caledonia, Australia, Cuba, Indonesia, and elsewhere.
Properties
Nickel is silvery white and takes on a high polish. It is hard, malleable, ductile, somewhat ferromagnetic,
and a fair conductor of heat and electricity. It belongs to the iron-cobalt group of metals and is chiefly
valuable for the alloys it forms.
Uses
It is extensively used for making stainless steel and other corrosion-resistant alloys such as Invar(R),
Monel(R), Inconel(R), and the Hastelloys(R). Tubing made of copper-nickel alloy is extensively used in
making desalination plants for converting sea water into fresh water.
Nickel, used extensively to make coins and nickel steel for armor plates and burglar-proof vaults, and is
also a component in Nichrome(R), Permalloy(R), and constantan.
Nickel