niobium
noun
ni·o·bi·um
| \ nī-ˈō-bē-əm
\
\
Definition of niobium
: a lustrous light gray ductile metallic element that resembles tantalum chemically and is used in alloys — see Chemical Elements Table
Examples of niobium in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Pointed directly at the Sun, the SPC is mounted outside the spacecraft’s heat shield and is also built from niobium C-103. — James Rogers, Fox News, "NASA's Parker Solar Probe gets closer to 'touching the Sun'," 6 Sep. 2018 Instead, it's made from niobium, a rare element with a high melting point. — Eric Niiler, WIRED, "NASA's New Parker Probe Will Skim the Sun's Surface," 28 Mar. 2018 The wire and wafer let the company leverage its experience building circuitry, but in this case, the wire is a mix of niobium and aluminum, which allows it to superconduct at extremely low temperatures. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "Quantum computing’s future is almost semi-here—are we ready for it?," 16 Mar. 2018 In this condition, the qubits made of niobium, silicon, and aluminum are stable enough to be used for computing. — Sophie Weiner, Popular Mechanics, "Listen to the Mechanical, Musical Sound of Quantum Computing," 5 Jan. 2018 The majority of platinum group elements are mined in Russia and South Africa, while Brazil produces niobium and cobalt comes from Congo. — Washington Post, "Trump orders boost in production of critical minerals," 20 Dec. 2017 In place of the lithium-titanium oxide anodes the company uses on its current-generation lithium-ion batteries, there are titanium-niobium oxide (TNO) pieces. — Alexander Stoklosa, Car and Driver, "Toshiba on the Cusp of an EV Battery Capable of 200 Miles of Range after Six-Minute Charge," 23 Oct. 2017 The new model suggests our home planet contains significantly more sodium, potassium, chlorine, zinc, strontium, fluorine, gallium, rubidium, niobium, gadolinium, tantalum, helium, argon, and krypton than previously believed. — Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, "Scientists Create Most Accurate Estimate of Earth's Composition," 18 Sep. 2017 China’s Limac Corp. and North Korea’s Ryonbong General Corp. set up a joint venture in 2008 to mine tantalum, niobium and zirconium, minerals that are useful in making phones and computers but also nuclear reactors and missiles. …. — James Hohmann, Washington Post, "The Daily 202: Ivanka Trump’s life of privilege undermines the credibility of her new book’s message," 8 May 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'niobium.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for niobium
niobium
noun
ni·o·bi·um
| \ nī-ˈō-bē-əm
\
\
Medical Definition of niobium
: a lustrous light gray ductile metallic element that resembles tantalum chemically and is used in alloys
—symbol Nb
— called also columbium
— see Chemical Elements Table