“Apollo and Diana Attacking the Children of Niobe,” Jacques-Louis David, oil on canvas, 1772
5 April 2024
Niobium is a chemical element with atomic number 41 and the symbol Nb. It had been known previously as columbium, symbol Cb. Niobium is a light gray, crystalline transition metal with a hardness similar to titanium and a ductility similar to iron. It is used as a component of steel alloys, in superconductors, and in jewelry as a hypoallergenic alternative to nickel.
The element was discovered in 1801 by Charles Hatchet in a mineral sample found in the British Museum. Hatchet named it columbium as the sample came from Connecticut. Columbia being a poetic name for the United States (see Columbia):
Considering, therefore, that the metal which has been examined is so very different from those hitherto discovered, it appeared proper that it should be distinguished by a peculiar name; and, having consulted with several of the eminent and ingenious chemists of this country, I have been induced to give it the name of Columbium.
But in 1809, William Hyde Wollaston falsely concluded that Hatchett had erred, mistaking the element tantalum, atomic number 73, for a new element. The two elements have similar properties and are frequently found together in ores. Tantalum had been identified in 1802 by Anders Ekberg. Then in 1844, chemist Heinrich Rose “discovered” a new element in an ore that also contained tantalum; he either did not know of or did not recognize Hatchett’s earlier discovery and named it niobium:
Ich nenne dasselbe Niobium und sein Oxyd Niobsäure, von Niobe, der Tochter des Tantalus, urn durch den Namen die Aehnlichkeit mit dem nach letzterem benannten Metalle und dessen Oxyde anzudeuten.
(I call the same niobium and its oxide niobic acid, from Niobe, the daughter of Tantalus, in order to indicate by the name the similarity with the metal and its oxides named after the latter.)
The weeping rock (Ağlayan Kaya) in Mount Sipylus, Manisa, Turkey said to be the grieving Niobe; the porous limestone formation appears to “weep” as rainwater seeps through it
In Greek mythology, Niobe is the daughter of Tantalus. She had fourteen children and boasted because of this she was a greater mother than Leto, the mother of the gods Apollo and Artemis. Insulting someone’s mother is never a good idea, especially so when that someone is a god. And to avenge the slight upon their mother, Apollo and Artemis set about killing all fourteen of Niobe’s children. Niobe wasted away in grief and was eventually turned to stone.
Both names continued in use, niobium primarily in Europe and Columbium in the United States until 1950, when the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry made declared niobium to be the official name. But seventy-five years later, one can still occasionally find uses of columbium.
Sources:
Hatchet, Charles. “An Analysis of a Mineral Substance from North America, Containing a Metal Hitherto Unknown” (26 November 1801). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 92, December 1802, 46–66 at 65. DOI: 10.1098/rstl.1802.0005.
Miśkowiec, Pawel. “Name Game: The Naming History of the Chemical Elements: Part 2—Turbulent Nineteenth Century.” Foundations of Chemistry, 8 December 2022. DOI: 10.1007/s10698-022-09451-w.
Oxford English Dictionary, third edition, September 2003, s.v. niobium, n.; second edition, s.v. columbium, n.
Wollaston, William Hyde. “On the Identity of Columbium and Tantalum” (8 June 1809). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 99, December 1809, 246–52. DOI: 10.1098/rstl.1809.0017.
Rose, Heinrich. “Über die Zusammensetzung der Tantalite und ein im Tantalite von Baiern enthaltenes neues Metall.” Annalen der Physik, 139.10, 1844, 317–41 at 335–36. DOI: 10.1002/andp.18441391006.
Image credits: Jacques-Louis David, 1772. Dallas Museum of Art. Wikipedia. Public domain image as a mechanical reproduction of a public domain work. Carole Raddato, 2015. Flickr.com. Wikipedia. Used under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.