What is the Life Expectancy of Nickel?

Identification

• Nickel is an element whose atomic weight is 28. In its refined form, it is a silvery metal that takes and holds a shiny luster. Once refined and made into a metal, it is extremely resistant to corrosion, making its "life expectancy" almost indefinite. in fact, because of its resistance to corrosion and oxidization, nickel has been incorporated into many different alloys and products that are used every day; stainless steel is an alloy of nickel and steel which resists rust and other corrosion.

Uses

• Nickel is used to produce armor plating for tanks because nickel allows the steel to become harder than it normally would. Also, nickel is used in long life batteries (which carry the "NiCad" name which is short for Nickel Cadmium), as well as to harden copper pipes used in water purification plants.

Features

• Because nickel takes on such a lustrous sheen, it has been used to plate otherwise dull-looking metal. For instance, nickel is used to plate the hardened steel of handguns, giving it a silvery, shiny appearance instead of a dark gray patina. Nickel was also used to mint coins in the United States, which is where the 5-cent piece gets its name. Though nickel has the sheen associated with silver, it was cheaper and thus was used for one of the lowest denomination coins in America. Nickel also imparts a green cast when added to glass.

Size

• Nickel is a very strong metal on its own as well, resisting tortion and breakage very well. A kilogram of nickel produces over 300 kilometers of wire, for instance. Nickel is also a very dense material, weighing over 8.9 grams per cubic centimeter, which is denser than iron's 7.84 grams per cubic centimeter.

Theories/Speculation

• Because nickel is a very common element on earth, ranking as the fifth common element, and because it is used widely in the batteries of hybrid cars, nickel could possibly be used more widely than it has been thus far. Nickel also has promising uses in the storage and containment of natural gas and other non-petroleum hydrocarbon fuels because of its high resistance to corrosion. Finally, as aircraft engines and other transportation parts are pushed to their engineering limits, nickel is being turned to as an alloying mineral to enhance the strength and safety of critical components.