Hafnium (Hf) Fun Facts
"The Zirconium Twin, a hero almost identical to its twin, tasked with controlling nuclear reactions in submarines."
The true essence of Hafnium (Hf) on the molecular frontier.
Hafnium is a lustrous, silvery, ductile metal.
Hafnium is found in the control rods in a nuclear submarine�s reactor.
Hafnium is so similar to zirconium that it was the second-to-last stable element to be discovered.
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Did You Know?
It was one of the last stable (non-radioactive) elements to be discovered, in 1923.
Its chemical properties are so similar to zirconium that it is extremely difficult to separate the two. For this reason, zirconium metal always contains a small amount of hafnium unless it has been highly purified.
Hafnium is excellent at absorbing neutrons, so it is used to make control rods for nuclear submarines.
It is named after Hafnia, the Latin name for Copenhagen, the city where it was discovered.
The filament in plasma cutting torches is often made from hafnium because it can withstand the incredibly high temperatures.