The speed of a longitudinal wave (the speed of sound) through a thin rod of tungsten carbide is 6220 m/s.
With a low electrical resistivity of (~2×10−7 Ohm·m), tungsten carbide's resistivity is comparable with that of some metals (e.g. vanadium2×10−7 Ohm·m).
WC is readily wetted by both molten nickel and cobalt. Investigation of the phase diagram of the W-C-Co system shows that WC and Co form a pseudo binary eutectic. The phase diagram also shows that there are so-called η-carbides with composition (W,Co)
6C that can be formed and the fact that these phases are brittle is the reason why control of the carbon content in WC-Co hard metals is important.