What Is the Meaning of Alloy?
Alloy chemistry has been an important part of human history from ancient peoples turning bronze into weapons to overwhelm their neighbors to the strong dependence on steel of today's societies. An alloy will have different properties based on its components, and metallurgists who work to create tools and art from metal must know the components and their strengths to forge their creations.
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Definition
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An alloy is a solid solution that contains at least one metal. Most often an alloy will contain only two or more metals, but some alloys contain one or more metals along with a non-metal.
Function
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Gold ring. An alloy is typically designed to be stronger than its component metals. For example, gold in jewelry is an alloy of gold with other metals because pure gold is too soft to be used for jewelry.
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Common Alloys
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Steel is an alloy made primarily of the metal iron and the non-metal carbon. Bronze is an alloy of the metals copper and tin. Brass is an alloy of the metals copper and zinc.
Steel Production
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Steel girders. Steel is one of the most important alloys produced today. According to the World Steel Association, the United States alone produced 91.5 million metric tons of steel in 2008.
Ancient Alloy
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Bronze was an important alloy in ancient times, but the tin necessary to create it was rare. The possession of a tin mine or the development of a trading agreement to obtain tin gave a society a powerful and luxurious advantage.
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References
Resources
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