Vanadium is a hard, silvery gray, ductile, and malleable transition metal. The elemental metal is rarely found in nature.

Approximately 85% of the vanadium produced is used as ferrovanadium or as a steel additive. The most common oxide of vanadium, vanadium pentoxide V₂O₅, is used as a catalyst in manufacturing sulfuric acid by the contact process and as an oxidizer in maleic anhydride production. The vanadium redox battery, a type of flow battery, is an electrochemical cell consisting of aqueous vanadium ions in different oxidation states.

Roasted vanadium compounds, slag, and fly ash containing at least 15% V₂O₅ are used to make vanadium pent-oxide and FeV.