Which element has the highest melting point of all metals?

Tungsten has the highest melting point of all metals in pure, non-alloyed form, at about 3,422 °C.

That extreme heat resistance comes from very strong bonding between tungsten atoms, involving its 5d electrons. The metal is also exceptionally dense, hard, and strong at high temperatures. Those properties make it useful in incandescent-lamp filaments, X-ray targets, welding electrodes, heating elements, and rocket-engine components.

Tungsten is also known as wolfram, which explains its chemical symbol, W. In 1781, Carl Wilhelm Scheele produced tungstic acid from scheelite; in 1783, Spanish brothers José and Fausto Elhuyar isolated the metal from wolframite. The element’s name reflects a long history of competing mineral names.

A common mix-up is carbon. Carbon can withstand higher temperatures in some contexts, but at ordinary atmospheric pressure it sublimes rather than melting into a liquid. Among metals with a conventional melting point, tungsten is the standard answer. Rhenium, osmium, and molybdenum are highly refractory, but all melt at lower temperatures.