Jay Levy, age 13, of Santa Rosa, Calif., for his question:    

WHAT IS TUNGSTEN?

Tungsten is a silver white, hard metal and is one of the

chemical elements. It is also called wolfram. Tungsten has the highest melting point of all metals and, for this reason, is used in equipment that must withstand high temperatures. It is used to make steel harder, stronger and more elastic. A tungsten steel tool outlasts one of ordinary steel.

Tungsten can be found in the minerals scheelite and wolframite. In the United States, those minerals are found mostly in Colorado and California.