Vanadium Facts for Kids

The Periodic Table - Vanadium
  • Name: Vanadium
  • Symbol: V
  • Atomic Number: 23
  • Atomic Weight: 50.9415 u
  • Period: 4
  • Group: 5 (vanadium group)

30 Vanadium Facts for Kids

  1. Vanadium is a chemical element on the periodic table.
  2. Vanadium is a hard metal that is malleable with a silvery-grey color in its pure form.
  3. Vanadium is named after Vanadís (Freyja), the Scandinavian goddess of beauty and fertility.
  4. Compounds containing vanadium were discovered in 1801 by Spanish-Mexican scientist, naturalist and engineer Andrés Manuel del Río. While he thought he might have discovered a new element, he was later convinced that the element he thought he discovered was just chromium.
  5. Vanadium was discovered and first isolated in 1830 by Swedish chemist Nils Gabriel Sefström.
  6. The first pure form of vanadium was obtained by British chemist Henry Roscoe in 1867.
  7. The symbol for vanadium is V.
  8. The atomic number for vanadium is 23.
  9. The standard atomic weight of vanadium is 50.9415 u.
  10. Vanadium is a solid at room temperature.
  11. Vanadium is in the transition metal element category on the periodic table.
  12. Vanadium is a period 4 chemical element, which is the fourth row on the periodic table.
  13. Vanadium is a group 5 chemical element, which is the vanadium group.
  14. Vanadium is in the d-block on the periodic table.
  15. The electron configuration for vanadium is [Ar] 3d3 4s2.
  16. The electrons per shell for vanadium are 2, 8, 11, 2.
  17. Vanadium has one stable isotope.
  18. Vanadium’s one stable isotope is 51V.
  19. The melting point or vanadium is 3470 °F (1910 °C).
  20. The boiling point for vanadium is 6165 °F (3407 °C).
  21. The composition of the universe is estimated to contain 0.0001% vanadium.
  22. The composition of our Earth’s crust is estimated to contain 0.0120% vanadium.
  23. According to the USGA, the world’s vanadium mines produced over 78,000 tons in 2017.
  24. According to the USGA, the world’s largest producing vanadium mines in 2017 were in China.
  25. According to the USGA, China’s vanadium mines produced over 44,000 tons in 2017.
  26. According to the USGA, China’s vanadium mines produced over 56% of the world’s supply of vanadium in 2017.
  27. Based on data from the USGA, the world’s vanadium mines have a proven reserve of over 22 million tons as of 2017.
  28. Around 80% of all the vanadium produced is used in alloys or as a steel additive.
  29. The compound vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) is used in the manufacturing of sulfuric acid.
  30. Vanadium redox battery is one type of a flow battery that is used for grid energy storage.

Additional Resources on Vanadium

  • Vanadium (V) – Discover more about the chemical element vanadium on the Los Alamos National Laboratory website.
  • Vanadium for Kids – Find more information about the chemical element vanadium for kids on the Britannica Kids website.
  • Vanadium and Your Health – Learn about the benefits and/or risks of vanadium to your health on the CDC website.
  • Vanadium – PubChem – Read more about vanadium and the data behind it on the NIH PubChem website.

About the author
Facts Editor

This is an author profile for articles that are created from a collaborative effort. It is not uncommon that articles on this site were either written, researched or fact checked by several authors and team members. So this author profile will be displayed to reflect that. Our team of editors, writers and fact checkers do extensive research before publishing articles on the site, and we do our best to provide the most accurate information possible.