Element:	Nickel
Symbol:	Ni
Atomic number:	28
Atomic weight:	58.6934(2)
Electron configuration:	[Ar] 3d8 4s2
Ground level:	3F4
Ionization potential:	7.6398 ev
Physical form:	White metal
Melting point:	1455°C
Boiling point:	2913°C
Critical temperature:
Density:	8.90 g/cm3
Specific heat:	0.444 J/g•K
Valence	2, 3

Origin of name: Ger. Nickel, Satan or Old Nick’s and from kupfernickel, Old Nick’s copper

Discovered by Cronstedt in 1751 in kupfernickel (niccolite). Nickel is found as a constituent in most meteorites and often serves as one of the criteria for distinguishing a meteorite from other minerals. Iron meteorites, or siderites, may contain iron alloyed with from 5 to nearly 20% nickel.

Nickel is obtained commercially from pentlandite and pyrrhotite of the Sudbury region of Ontario, a district that produces much of the world’s nickel. It is now thought that the Sudbury deposit is the result of an ancient meteorite impact. Large deposits of nickel, cobalt, and copper have recently been developed at Voisey’s Bay, Labrador. Other deposits of nickel are found in Russia, New Caledonia, Australia, Cuba, Indonesia, and elsewhere.

Nickel is silvery white and takes on a high polish. It is hard, malleable, ductile, somewhat ferromagnetic, and a fair conductor of heat and electricity. It belongs to the iron-cobalt group of metals and is chiefly valuable for the alloys it forms.

It is extensively used for making stainless steel and other corrosion-resistant alloys such as Invar®, Monel®, Inconel®, and the Hastelloys®. Tubing made of a copper-nickel alloy is extensively used in making desalination plants for converting sea water into fresh water. Nickel is also now used extensively in coinage and in making nickel steel for armor plate and burglar-proof vaults, and is a component in Nichrome®, Permalloy®, and constantan. Nickel added to glass gives a green color. Nickel plating is often used to provide a protective coating for other metals, and finely divided nickel is a catalyst for hydrogenating vegetable oils. It is also used in ceramics, in the manufacture of Alnico magnets, and in batteries.

The sulfate and the oxides are important compounds. Natural nickel is a mixture of five stable isotopes; twenty-five other unstable isotopes are known. Nickel sulfide fume and dust, as well as other nickel compounds, are carcinogens.

Nickel metal (99.9%) is priced at about $2/g or less in larger quantities.