Like different types of wood, metal has its various uses depending on the situation and it will generally depend on what you are going to be making to the kind of metal you should use.
There are a few different types of metal (chief metals) and also there are a few alloy metals, these are formulated by mixing a few different metals together and these can also be very useful metals.
Lets begin with the different metals.
1) Iron.
Iron is the most useful of all the metals man has. In its pure form, it has a silvery kind of colour, its also tenacious (which means tough), it is also quite malleable so it can be hammered without it starting to crack.
It can be hard to get pure iron because almost all of its contents have a small percent of carbon, phosphorus, sulphur, silica or other elements. These types of substance in iron allow it to have different properties which allow it to be cast into molds, but it cant be hammered because it has a danger of breaking or cracking.
2) Wrought Iron.
This metal has a small carbon content or other substance which does actually make it easier to work with because this metal can be hammered without fear of cracking.
3) Steel.
Steel contains more carbon content than wrought iron but it also has les carbon than cast iron. Steel can be cast, forged, hardened and tempered by applying heat to it and then cooling.
4) Tin.
Tin is a white metal which looks similar to silver, and can also be hammered into very thin sheets which you may know as tin foil.
Tin is not found in very many places anymore, but in the past, tin was mined in Britain and also known as Tin Island because most of it came from here. What is known as tin plate is actually a thin sheet iron but coated with tin as it is used as a covering for some metals as it does not rust or oxidize in air.
5) Zinc.
This metal is a whitish blue metal and is occasionally found in a pure state, it is normally found in combination with other types of element.
When it is heated to a alternative temperature, it can behave in different ways, for example, when it is cold, it cam become quite brittle, but if you were to heat it to 150 degrees Fahrenheit it can be rolled into rods and sheets – however, if it is heated to over 200 degrees, it will go brittle.
6) Lead.
Lead is the softest metal known to man and has a gray blue colour. It is a very heavy metal and melts at low temperatures.
It is often used in forming alloys with some other metals for example, solder which is made up from half part of lead and then the other half is made up from a type of tin; as well as solder, there is another made up type of metal from lead which is made up of 80 parts of lead and then 20 parts of antimony – one more type is pewter and this is made up of 25 parts of lead and the rest of tin.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/rss.jpg "XML Feed For RSS")