Name       : Niobium
Symbol     : Nb
Atomic #   : 41
Atom weight: 92.906
Melting P. : 2468
Boiling P. : 4742
Oxidation  : +3, +5
Pronounced : ni-OH-bee-em
From       : Named after Niobe, the mythological daughter of Tantalus
Identified : Charles Hatchett in 1801
Appearance : Shiny white, soft, ductile metal
Note       : Also known as columbium
             
[Properties]

  Although it looks much like steel, pure niobium is soft and ductile. It
resists corrosion at room temperature, presumably because of a thin film
of niobium oxide that forms on all surfaces of the samples. The only acid
that attacks niobium at room temperature is hydrofluoric acid. The metal
becomes much more active at temperatures about 200 degrees. Niobium alloys
quite well with iron and nickel to enhance the stability of these metals
during welding operations. Alloys of niobium-tin and niobium-aluminum are
superconductive.
  Niobium is a Group-VB, vanadium -type element. Niobium's chemical and
physical properties are nearly identical to those of tantalum - the
element appearing directly below niobium on the periodic table of elements.