Titanium is corrosion resistant, very strong and has a high melting point. It has a relatively low density (about 60% that of iron). It is also the tenth most commonly occurring element in the Earth's crust. That all means that titanium should be a really important metal for all sorts of engineering applications.
In fact, it is very expensive and only used for rather specialised purposes.
Titanium is used, for example:
in the aerospace industry - for example in aircraft engines and air frames;
for replacement hip joints;
for pipes, etc, in the nuclear, oil and chemical industries where corrosion is likely to occur.
Why is titanium so expensive?
Titanium is very expensive because it is awkward to extract from its ores - for example, from rutile, TiO2.
You can't use carbon reduction
Titanium can't be extracted by reducing the ore using carbon as a cheap reducing agent. The problem is that titanium forms a carbide, TiC, if it is heated with carbon, so you don't get the pure metal that you need. The presence of the carbide makes the metal very brittle.
That means that you have to use an alternative reducing agent. In the case of titanium, the reducing agent is either sodium or magnesium. Both of these would, of course, first have to be extracted from their ores by expensive processes.
Other problems
The titanium is produced by reacting titanium(IV) chloride, TiCl4 - NOT the oxide - with either sodium or magnesium. That means that you first have to convert the oxide into the chloride. That in turn means that you have the expense of the chlorine as well as the energy costs of the conversion.
Titanium(IV) chloride reacts violently with water. Handling it therefore needs care.
Traces of oxygen or nitrogen in the titanium tend to make the metal brittle. The reduction has to be carried out in an inert argon atmosphere rather than in air. That also adds to costs.
High temperatures are needed in both stages of the reaction.
Titanium is made by a batch process. In the production of iron, for example, there is a continuous flow through the Blast Furnace. Iron ore and coke and limestone are added to the top, and iron and slag removed from the bottom. This is a very efficient way of making something.
With titanium, however, you make it one batch at a time. Titanium(IV) chloride is heated with sodium or magnesium to produce titanium. The titanium is then separated from the waste products, and an entirely new reaction is set up in the same reactor. This is a slow and inefficient way of doing things.
Titanium extraction
Conversion of titanium(IV) oxide, TiO2, into titanium(IV) chloride, TiCl4
The ore rutile (impure titanium(IV) oxide) is heated with chlorine and coke at a temperature of about 900°C.
its expensive, for about a foot of titanium pipe you'll need to shell out a $1000, not cost effective at all
No titanium has mercury a poison when eaten can cause cancer or death so no you can not eat titanium
Aluminum is actually lighter than titanium
Titanium is one of the strongest metals. It is use full so that if you are pretending to play a war game, you can pretend to use it so you don't die and the titanium doesn't get damaged.
That is correct. Titanium has 22 electrons, and its highest full orbital is 4s and the 3d is partially filled with 2 electrons. So Titanium is 1s22s22p63s23p64s23d2
Titanium is malleable when warmed and easily fabricated.
its not its totally free!
because they are ok????????????????
The word is spelled expensive. The base word is expense.
Titanium is made in to lots of things like jewelry, titanium metal gifts, titanium material, & titanium parts. So, see there a lot of different stuff from titanium. :)
Titanium is an element, so the only thing that makes up titanium is itself.
No titanium has mercury a poison when eaten can cause cancer or death so no you can not eat titanium
Aluminum is actually lighter than titanium
well, if you shoot me down, i wont fall. I am titanium. so no
A roles Roycebecause the queen has 1 and they are huge and the engine is extremly exspensive A roles Roycebecause the queen has 1 and they are huge and the engine is extremly exspensive
Yes. Titanium is a metal that does not cause allergies. Gold and Platinum also do not cause allergies. However, Titanium is stronger and less expensive. So you can use all the Titanium you wish.
It can rap you so watch out plus it is great for looking up porn
Titanium is one of the strongest metals. It is use full so that if you are pretending to play a war game, you can pretend to use it so you don't die and the titanium doesn't get damaged.