What is an alloy?

An alloy is a mixture of a metal with at least one other

element.
An alloy is a metal that contains additions of one or more
metals or nonmetals, e.g., steel is an alloy of iron with carbon
additions.

The final alloy may have very

Steel is a common example of an alloy. It
contains iron mixed with carbon and other
elements. Adding other elements to a metal
changes its structure and so changes its
properties.
different properties to the original
metal.
By changing the amount of each
element in an alloy, material
scientists can custom-make
alloys to fit a given job.

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What types of alloys are there?
Alloys have been used for thousands of years. Bronze, an
alloy of copper and tin, was commonly used by civilizations
before iron extraction methods were developed.
Other well-known alloys include:
 brass: an alloy of copper and zinc.
It does not tarnish and is used for door
knobs, buttons and musical instruments.
 solder: an alloy of zinc and lead. It
is used in electronics to attach
components to circuit boards.
 amalgam: an alloy of mercury and
silver or tin. It is used for dental fillings
because it can be shaped when warm
and resists corrosion.
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Is gold an alloy?
Although pure gold is sometimes used in electronics, gold
jewellery is always a mixture of gold and other metals.
Pure gold is actually quite soft. Adding small amounts of
other metals makes the gold hard enough to use in jewellery.
Alloying gold with different metals also affects its colour.
The familiar yellow gold is an
alloy of gold with copper and
silver. Adding more copper than
silver gives redder shades.
White gold is an alloy of gold
with nickel, platinum or palladium.
Around 12% of people may be
allergic to the nickel in white gold.

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When is a copper coin not a copper coin?
When it is a copper-coated alloy!
Copper coins used to be made from
pure copper but most ‘copper’ coins
used around the world are now made
from copper alloys.
Previously, as the value of copper
increased, the metal used to make
the coin became worth more than the
actual coins. A melted-down, pure
copper coin could have been sold for
more than the face value of the coin!
Since 1992, UK copper coins have been made from
copper-plated steel and are magnetic. A magnet can be
used to separate copper coins by age.

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What is steel?
Steel is an alloy of iron and other elements, including carbon,
nickel and chromium.
Steel is stronger than pure iron and can be used for
everything from sauce pans… …to suspension bridges!

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Why is steel stronger than iron?
The atoms in pure iron are
arranged in densely-packed
layers. These layers can slide
over each other. This makes
pure iron a very soft material.
The atoms of other elements
are different sizes. When other
elements are added to iron,
their atoms distort the regular
structure of the iron atoms.
It is more difficult for the layers
of iron atoms in steel to slide
over each other and so this
alloy is stronger than pure iron.
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What types of steel are there?
Steel can contain up to 2% carbon.
Varying the amount of carbon gives
steel different properties. For
example, a higher carbon content
makes a hard steel.
Different types of steel are classified
by how much carbon they contain.
 low carbon steel contains less than 0.25% carbon
 high carbon steel contains more than 0.5% carbon.
Two other important types of steel are:
 stainless steel – an alloy of iron that contains at least
11% chromium and smaller amounts of nickel and carbon
 titanium steel – an alloy of iron and titanium.
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Using different types of steel

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Using different types of steel

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What’s so clever about smart alloys?
A smart material can change one or more of its physical
characteristics under the influence of an external stimulus.
Shape memory alloy is a type of smart material made from
metals that returns to its original shape after being deformed.
Nitinol is a type of shape
memory alloy made from
nickel and titanium.
This material can be
used to make a pair of
glasses that ‘remembers’
its shape and does not
break when crushed.
Nitinol has also been used to hold badly broken bones
in place while they heal.
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