Titanium

Photo credit: PeriodicTable.com

Atomic Number: 22
Relative Atomic Mass: 48
Group: 4
Period: 4
Block: D

Symbol: Ti

Titanium (Seen as in picture: Left, a part of a jet engine) is a shiny, very strong and hard metal. It is one of the transitional metals within the periodic table. The transitional metals are, in chemistry, defined as an element which has an incomplete D electron shell. Most scientists describe a transitional metal as any metal in the middle part of the periodic table between group 3 and group 12.

Titanium is the 9th most abundant element on Earth. It is present in most igneous (volcanic) rock. Minerals such as ilmenite, rutile and sphene, iron ore as well as titanates (compounds of titanium) also have titanium within them.

This is Ilmentite. This mineral is a combination of Iron and Titanium.
 It is the most important Ore for Titanium.
(Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

This is Sphene. Sphene have a chemical make up of Calcium, Silcon and Titanium.
A rare gemstone which contains titanium.
It can be Yellow, green, brown and black. Though red, orange and pink are rare.
Photo credit: Geology

The name of titanium comes from the titans. These were the sons of goddesses within Greek mythology.

Discovery of Titanium

This is William Gregor
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Titanium was discovered in the year 1791 by the British metallurgist (a branch of science or technology which focuses on metals) and reverend William Gregor. William Gregor found the first titanium mineral in Cornwall, a black sand called menachanite. Fascinated with it, the reverend analysed the sand. It was a mixture of iron oxides and an unknown element. William Gregor reported his findings to the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall.

Then in 1795, a German scientist - Martin Heinrich Klaproth in Berlin investigated a red ore known as Schörl in Hungary. It was a form of rutile (TiO₂). Klaproth realised that Schörl was an oxide of an unknown element which he named titanium.
Although when Martin Klaproth was told about reverend William Gregor's discovery, he investigated the menachite. It too had titanium contained within.

Though, it wasn't until the year 1910 that titanium was isolated. A General Electrics employee, M.A.Hunter, made pure titanium by heating titanium tetrachloride and sodium metal together.
Now-a-days, titanium is commercially produced by reducing titanium (IV) chloride with magnesium.

Biological Uses

There is no biological use for titanium. Pure titanium is non-toxic - doesn't harm you at all. Although, the salt - Titanium dioxide (TiO₂), is a carcinogen. 

It's Uses

• Power plants use titanium pipes due to titanium's resistance of corroding. 
• especially to saltwater
• The same corrosion principal is why titanium is used on the hulls on ships, submarines as well as anything which gets submerged in saltwater
• Titanium also connects well with bone (Calcium Phosphate) which is why it is used as metal implants for teeth and as hip implants. 
• Titanium oxide (Titanium(IV) oxide - TiO₂) is used as a pigment in paint, plastic, and paper. 
• It is a bight pigament
• It is a very good Infra-Red raditation reflector - used in solar observatory 
• Titanium Oxide is used in suncream - preventing UV from reaching the skin
• The nano-particles of TiO₂ are invisible when on the skin