Vanadium - Characteristics

Characteristics

Vanadium is a hard, ductile, silver-gray metal. Some sources describe vanadium as "soft", perhaps because it is ductile, malleable and not brittle. Vanadium is harder than most metals and steels (see Hardnesses of the elements (data page) and iron). It has good resistance to corrosion and it is stable against alkalis, sulfuric and hydrochloric acids. It is oxidized in air at about 933 K (660 °C, 1220 °F), although an oxide layer forms even at room temperature.