Nickel has many uses and is very commonly used in everyday life. Some of these uses include:
Nickel serves as one of the criteria for distinguishing a meteorite from other minerals. Iron meteorites may contain iron alloyed with from 5 to 20% nickel.
Nickel is also used in money. The USA “nickel” contains just 25% nickel. The nickel is hard and so it is used as a protective plate to cover cheaper metals, like copper, in the core. If copper is alloyed with 20 to 30% nickel and up to 10 per cent iron, it will be the strongest and most durable coin.
Nickel was originally used in coins in the year 235 BC. It was used in a copper-nickel alloy.
Low quality jewelry is often made of Nickel. It is used in jewelry such as necklaces, rings, watches, earrings, or bracelets.
It is also found in metal hooks, zippers, and clasps on clothing.
Nickel, in a "highly divided state" is used as a catalyst in the hydrogenation of vegetable oils in the manufacture of margarine.
Nickel can be hammered into thin sheets or stretched into wires. One pound of nickel can be stretched into 80 miles of wire.
Nickel is also used in many compounds. Some of them include:
Nickel oxide, green; nickel oxide, black; nickel acetate; nickel carbonyl; nickel hydroxide; nickel sulfide; nickel subsulfide; nickel powder; nickel chloride, nickel chloride hexahydrate, nickel acetate, nickel sulfate hexahydrate, and nickel nitrate hexahydrate.
Nickel is also used in many alloys. The most common is stainless steel which is 8% nickel, 18% chromium and 74% iron.
Commercially, the most important compound is with sulfate, which is used in electroplating, and in dyes, paints, varnishes, and ceramics.
Nickel aluminide is six times stronger than stainless steel and gets even stronger as it is heated up to higher temperatures. It withstands temperatures up to 1000 degrees Celsius, so it is very useful in "high performance jet engines".
Does nickel have any health hazards?
The inhalation of nickel dust is very dangerous. It can cause lung and throat cancers. This is a danger for construction workers and people who work with a lot of machinery and can easily be avoided if proper safety precautions are taken.
Experiments have shown that chicks and rats raised on a nickel-deficient diet develop liver problems.