Vanadium, an element with 5 electrons in its outer shell, was discovered first in 300BC by artisans in the Middle East who made steel with it called "Damascus Steel," a hard alloy that helped Middle East kingdoms and Muslim troops, then rediscovered by the Swedish chemist Nils Sefstrom, who named it after the Norse goddess of beauty, Vanadis.
Adding as little as 0.15% vanadium creates an exceptionally strong steel alloy and allows the strength of steel to be increased with less steel. Henry Ford used it in 1908 to make the body of his Model T stronger and lighter. Vanadium steel retains its hardness at high temperatures, it is used in drill bits, circular saws, engine turbines and other moving parts that generate a lot of heat. So steel accounts for perhaps 90% of demand for the metal.
But there is more: Sulfuric acid strips the 5 outer electrons away (oxidation) then zinc-mercury adds electrons back one at a time as the solution goes yellow to blue to green to violet. That loss and acceptance of electrons is the essence of a battery.
Electrons being add, one by one:
Adding as little as 0.15% vanadium creates an exceptionally strong steel alloy and allows the strength of steel to be increased with less steel. Henry Ford used it in 1908 to make the body of his Model T stronger and lighter. Vanadium steel retains its hardness at high temperatures, it is used in drill bits, circular saws, engine turbines and other moving parts that generate a lot of heat. So steel accounts for perhaps 90% of demand for the metal.
But there is more: Sulfuric acid strips the 5 outer electrons away (oxidation) then zinc-mercury adds electrons back one at a time as the solution goes yellow to blue to green to violet. That loss and acceptance of electrons is the essence of a battery.
Electrons being add, one by one:
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