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Isolation of tungsten (wolfram) — Elhuyar brothers

1783 AD · Transmission: Silenced
ChemistryInventionHispanic

Juan José and Fausto de Elhuyar isolate tungsten in 1783 at the Royal Patriotic Seminary of Bergara from wolframite, reducing tungstic acid with charcoal. They publish their results in *Análisis químico del volfram y examen de un nuevo metal que entra en su composición* (1783). It is the only element of the periodic table first isolated in Spain. Carl Wilhelm Scheele had discovered tungstic acid in 1781 but failed to isolate the metal; Peter Woulfe had proposed the element's existence in 1779. The Elhuyars were the first to obtain the metal in pure form and to characterize it.

InstitutionRoyal Patriotic Seminary of Bergara
Historical regionCrown of Spain — Basque Country
Primary sourceElhuyar, J.J. and F. — Análisis químico del volfram y examen de un nuevo metal que entra en su composición (Extracto de las Juntas Generales de la R.S.B.A.P., Vitoria, 1783)
Secondary sourceRoyal Society of Chemistry — Element Tungsten history; Greenwood, N.N.; Earnshaw, A. — Chemistry of the Elements (1997)
Original languageSpanish
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