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Titanium is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It is a light, strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant (including resistance to sea water and chlorine) transition metal with a white-silvery-metallic colour. Titanium is used in strong light-weight alloys (most notably with iron and aluminium) and its most common compound, titanium dioxide, is used in white pigments. Substances containing titanium are called titaniferous.
This element occurs in numerous minerals with the main sources being rutile and ilmenite, which are widely distributed over the Earth. There are two allotropic forms and five naturally occurring isotopes of this element; Ti-46 through Ti-50 with Ti-48 being the most abundant (73.8%). One of titanium's most notable characteristics is that it is as strong as steel but is only 60% its weight. Titanium's properties are chemically and physically similar to zirconium.
