Vanadium

Vanadium (IPA: /vəˈneɪdiəm/) is a chemical element that has the symbol V and atomic number 23. A soft and ductile element, vanadium naturally occurs in about 65 different minerals and is used mainly to produce certain steel alloys, such as Vanadium steel. The compound vanadium pentoxide is used as a catalyst for the production of sulfuric acid. Andrés Manuel del Río discovered it in 1801 and named it panchronium and later erythronium. The element was rediscovered in 1831 by Nils Gabriel Sefström, and he named the element vanadium after the goddess Vanadis. Vanadium is found in most living organisms, for example enzymes, particularly the vanadium nitrogenase is used by some nitrogen-fixing micro-organisms.