2006-10-23 10:47:54 · 18 answers · asked by taff_the_mad 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
Compared to other metals with exception to precious metals such as gold or silver, titanium is actually relatively expensive.
Pure titanium is about $14/ lb
Copper is about $3.50 / lb
Aluminum is about $1.23 / lb
Lead is about $0.70 / lb
Steel is about $0.25 / lb
As we can see, titanium is much more expensive than the other metals.
However, the price of a metal isn't determined by how good it is (well it is partly). It is determined by how expensive it is to produce and the demand for it.
Titanium prices have gone down within the past few decades due to improvement in manufacturing techniques and greater investment in production facilities. Thus there is more titanium available, at a lower price than it has been in the past. However, if we were to compare the current price of titanium with that of steel, we see that it is still much more expensive. That is why we don't have titanium everything!
By the way, titanium in it's pure form isn't one of the hardest metals.
Tungsten holds the crown as the hardest commonly available pure metals.
However, titanium coatings such as TiC, TiN are very very hard.
2006-10-23 10:52:03 · answer #1 · answered by polloloco.rb67 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Cheap Titanium Rings
2016-12-16 10:19:44 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My husband has a titanium band and i have a white gold band. We chose titanium because he is a builder and titanium is a strong metal that is hard to bend and is very light weight. It has faint scratches but nothing any other ring wont get. It does lose its shine a bit but nothing a quick clean wont fix. As for price his band was about $150 compared to the $1000 plus they wanted for platinum. My white gold band is developing a yellow patch so i will have to get this dipped in the future. It has taken a few years to wear and it is Nothing that is very noticeable.
2016-05-22 02:17:46 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hardness and scarcity have nothing to do with each other. There is a lot of titanium around; refining it to titanium metal is fairly costly (takes lots of energy), but titanium oxide is cheap enough to be used for pigment in paint.
2006-10-23 11:15:43 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Although I never knew titanium was cheap, the reasons why it could be cheap is as follows:
Price is dependant on supply and demand. Did you know that the price of diamonds is kept inflated by restricting the amount of mining of diamonds?
Maybe titanium is cheap because it is easy to find, and maybe it is also cheap to extraxt from its ore.
2006-10-23 11:05:27 · answer #5 · answered by Steve-Bob 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Was once considered an exotic metal.
It's not that hard but it's benefit is that it sits between Aluminium and Steel.
i.e. it has some of the strength of steel without being heavy. It has some of the lightness of Aluminium but it isn't as weak.
Industry has woken up to these facts and it is now widely used and availiable.
Plus it has a cool sounding name! - I'd buy anything with such a cool name!
2006-10-23 11:02:08 · answer #6 · answered by Jimbobarino 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think titanium is one of the hardest metals. It is one of the strongest due to its crystal structure (HCP). Titanium is similar to aluminum but has a higher tensile strength.
2006-10-23 10:56:48 · answer #7 · answered by Your Best Fiend 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Much of the titanium on the market is courtesy of the old soviet union's submarines. So when you hit that golf ball with your titanium driver...say da svidania.
2006-10-23 10:54:08 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's fairly easy to extract the titanium from rutile & ilmenite and it's also one of the most abundant elements in the Earth's crust and widespread in location, so is fairly readily available.
2006-10-23 10:52:12 · answer #9 · answered by Whoosher 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Titanium is very, very expensive compared to steel and aluminum.
2006-10-23 10:51:33 · answer #10 · answered by Otis F 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋