Some Metals and Their Uses
Metals are similar to woods in such a way that each kind has a special use. The use of metals greatly depends on what you need to make. There are five primary types of metals. There are also alloys, which are created by melting two or more metals and mixing them together.
Iron is the first kind of metal and the most useful type. It has the colour of silver and is very tough in its pure form. It also has the property of malleability. This means that iron can be pounded yet it will not break. It also has the ductility property so iron is good to be used for wiring systems.
However, it is hard to get pure iron since most of the iron metals in the world have a small percentage of other elements like carbon, phosphorus, silica and sulphur. When mixed with other elements, iron tends to showcase different properties. An example is cast-iron which is rich in carbon. It can easily be casted onto moulds but it has a reduced malleability so it is easily broken when hammered. Another kind of iron is wrought iron. This one contains little amount of carbon so it has a good level of malleability. Between the cast iron and wrought iron is steel. It is good for casting, forging, tampering and hardening.
Tin is also another metal that is hard to find. It is white but looks like silver. It has a great malleability that you can even make tin foil and has a very low melting point that is good for making alloys. However, the tin plate that people call is not pure tin. In fact, a tin plate is just a thin sheet of iron that is coated from tin. This metal is used mainly as covering for other metals like iron for them not to rust.
Zinc is an easy to cut blue-white metal. It is normally found in alloy form but it is also possible to find zinc in a pure state. In fact, the brass you know is made from zinc and another metal called copper.
There are many uses for this metal depending on how you will prepare it or how you will heat it up. Zinc, at 100 degrees Fahrenheit, can be rolled to form sheets and rods. Zinc is then very brittle when cold or when heated up to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lead is a very heavy metal found in bluish colour near to gay. Despite the weight, lead is very soft and can easily be rolled or pounded to form various shapes. It also melts easily even at low temperature. In fact, it is the softest metal. It is normally used for making utensils.
In addition, lead is also good for making alloys. Some examples are as follows:
– Solder – this alloy is 50% lead and 50% tin.
– Type-Metal – an alloy made largely from lead mixed with antimony.
– Pewter – this is an alloy with a bit of lead (about 20 to 25 per cent) and greatly comprised of tin.
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