描述
Niobium, also known as niob or 41nb, is a member of the class of compounds known as homogeneous transition metal compounds. Homogeneous transition metal compounds are inorganic compounds containing only metal atoms,with the largest atom being a transition metal atom. Niobium can be found in a number of food items such as garlic, red beetroot, parsnip, and broccoli, which makes niobium a potential biomarker for the consumption of these food products. The English chemist Charles Hatchett reported a new element similar to tantalum in 1801 and named it columbium. In 1809, the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston wrongly concluded that tantalum and columbium were identical. The German chemist Heinrich Rose determined in 1846 that tantalum ores contain a second element, which he named niobium. In 1864 and 1865, a series of scientific findings clarified that niobium and columbium were the same element (as distinguished from tantalum), and for a century both names were used interchangeably. Niobium was officially adopted as the name of the element in 1949, but the name columbium remains in current use in metallurgy in the United States .