镍是一种化学元素，化学符号为Ni，原子序数为28。它是一种有光泽的银白色金属，其银白色带一点淡金色。镍属于过渡金属，质硬，具延展性。纯镍的化学活性相当高，这种活性可以在反应表面积最大化的粉末状态下看到，但大块的镍金属与周围的空气反应缓慢，因为其表面已形成了一层带保护性质的氧化物。即使如此，由于镍与氧之间的活性够高，所以在地球表面还是很难找到自然的金属镍。地球表面的自然镍都被封在较大的镍铁陨石里面，这是因为陨石在太空的时候接触不到氧气的缘故。在地球上，这种自然镍总会和铁结合在一起，这点反映出它们都是超新星核合成主要的最终产物。一般认为地球的地核就是由镍铁混合物所组成的。

Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile. Pure nickel shows a significant chemical activity that can be observed when nickel is powdered to maximize the exposed surface area on which reactions can occur, but larger pieces of the metal are slow to react with air at ambient conditions due to the formation of a protective oxide surface. Even then, nickel is reactive enough with oxygen that native nickel is rarely found on Earth's surface, being mostly confined to the interiors of larger nickel–iron meteorites that were protected from oxidation during their time in space. On Earth, such native nickel is found in combination with iron, a reflection of those elements' origin as major end products of supernova nucleosynthesis. An iron–nickel mixture is thought to compose Earth's inner core. Pure native nickel is found in tiny amounts, usually in ultramafic rocks.