Alloys
Did you ever wonder why your stainless steel plates never rust even after coming in contact with water and air? It is because they are alloys. The application of alloys improves the property of metals. Thus, you are surrounded by alloys used in daily life. Usually, it is rare to find metals such as iron, copper, gold, silver, etc. in their pure form. You will come across their alloys, such as brass, steel, bronze, etc. An alloy is a homogeneous blend of two or more two metals or a combination of a metal and a nonmetal. Here, we will learn about alloys and their applications in detail.
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Application of Alloys
The application of alloys is an indispensable part of our daily life since metals cannot be used in their purest state. Let us understand the uses of alloys with the help of an example. Iron in its pure form is so soft that you can easily stretch it when hot. However, when you add 0.05% of carbon to iron, it becomes strong and hard. Furthermore, when you mix nickel and chromium with iron, you get an alloy known as stainless steel. Stainless steel is suitable for rough use in the household since it is hard, light-weight, and does not rust. Therefore, the uses of alloys hold a high degree of importance in our daily lives.
Uses of Alloy Steel
Steel is the most common yet the most useful metal of all times. There are multiple uses of alloy steel in our daily lives because of its physical and chemical properties. The alloy steel is a composition of carbon steel added to the homogeneous mixture of metals and non-metals. Alloy steel is further divided into two types – low-alloy and high-alloy. High-alloy steel is a mixture of metals where the alloying element is above 8%.
On the other hand, low-alloy steel contains less than 8% of the alloying element. Elements, such as aluminium, chromium, copper, nickel, cobalt, manganese, silicon, etc. are mixed separately in different proportions to derive the desired constituency of alloy steel. Each element provides a specific property to the steel. Alloying provides strength, durability, and hardness to steel.
Alloys and Their Importance
Whatever you see or use, you cannot ignore alloys used in daily life. Pure metals are chemically reactive. Due to the moisture and gasses present in the atmosphere, pure metals tend to erode. However, metals in alloy form are more resistant to corrosion. They make metals more durable and easy to use. They acquire high-tensile strength.
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Alloy is prepared by melting the primary metal in liquid form and dissolving another metal or metals in accurate proportion. The mixture is then allowed to cool down and harden. Such a composition of two or more metals prepares an alloy. There is a vast list of metal alloys and their uses in our daily lives. Below is the name of daily life alloys and their composition, and uses in a tabular form.
List of Alloys and Their Composition and Uses
Fun Fact on Uses of Alloys in Daily Life
1. 22 Karat Gold is an excellent example of alloys used in daily life. The gold ornaments you wear to a wedding are alloys. Twenty-four-carat pure gold is an incredibly soft metal, which can be moulded with fingers easily. A goldsmith makes 22-carat gold ornaments with a homogeneous mixture of gold and silver, or gold and copper.
2. The steel plate that you use in your daily life to eat food is environmentally-friendly since 80% more than 80% of the old steel can be recycled into a new one.
3. When you drink water from a brass jug, you will be free from respiratory diseases.
Alloys – Use and Applications in Daily Life
Alloys can be defined as a metallic entity that is composed of two or more substances that can be either a solution or compound. These substances can be mostly metals. Carbon being a non-metal however is a major component of steel. These compounds are formed by melting the ingredients. These were discovered in the ancient eras and then the alloys that were discovered were brass and bronze which were widely used. In the present day, the most used alloys are alloy steels, as these compounds have ingredients like iron and carbon. Steel alloy has major elements like nickel, manganese, chromium, silicon, tungsten, boron and vanadium. This alloy has many useful properties like hardness, corrosion resistance, toughness and ductility. There are non-ferrous alloys like bronze, copper-nickel, aluminium alloys that are used in the coinage. We can distinguish between alloy metals and impurities which is very subtle. For example, in the alloy aluminium, the impurity that is added is silicon according to the application. The addition of silicon increases its strength. However, it decreases the property of the resistance against corrosion.
Fusible metals or fusible alloys are the alloys that have melting points below that of tin i.e. 232 degrees Celsius. These alloys are mixtures of other metals which have a low melting point. For example, bismuth, lead and tin. These alloys are used in the safety sprinklers as solder which sprays out water automatically when there is a fire that melts the alloy. These alloys melt at 90 to 100 degrees Celsius.
FAQs on Uses of Alloys in Daily Life
1. There are multiple uses of alloys in our daily life. Justify your answer.
You are surrounded by alloys in various shapes and forms in your daily life. From railway tracks to a silver spoon in your baby’s mouth is nothing but alloys. Here, is a summarized list of uses of alloys.
Manufacturing of kitchenware
Manufacturing of hardware
Manufacturing of plumbing
Manufacturing of construction materials
Manufacturing of transport materials, automobile parts, etc.
Manufacturing of weapons
Manufacturing of furniture
Manufacturing of heating appliance
Manufacturing of silverware
Manufacturing of wearable ornaments
Manufacturing of medical instruments, surgical equipment, etc.
Manufacturing of musical instruments
Production of electrical wire and parts
Manufacturing of decorative items,
Construction of statutes, casting bells,
Usage in the printing industry
2. What are the needs and uses of alloy steel in daily life?
When carbon steel is alloyed with other elements to improve its mechanical properties, it is called alloy steel. Alloying elements such as copper, aluminium, chromium, manganese, nickel, tungsten, silicon, vanadium, etc. are added to carbon steel to derive desired kinds of alloy steel to suit your need. Low-alloy and high-alloy are obtained from alloying steel. People commonly use low-alloy steel for their physical attributes. Alloy steel is of high utility in the construction of buildings, automobiles, bridges, roads, electronics, pipelines, etc. Furthermore, alloy steels are useful in medical equipment because they are highly-dependable. Alloying steels become resistant to corrosion and oxidation. Moreover, they can withstand high-temperature.
3. What are the applications of alloy?
Alloys are used widely in various industries. They are used for the construction of aircraft, industries, medical equipment, manufacturing and military. The machinery and vehicle industry uses alloys of aluminum, nickel, copper, stainless steel and titanium. Alloys of aluminum are used for electronic technology industries, automotive body structure building, solar and wind energy management and many other industries. They are used widely for properties like anti-erosion, good conductivity and eco-friendly nature.
4. Compare alloys with metals.
There are many advantages of alloys when we compare alloys with metals. They are as follows:
Alloys have a tensile strength which can be increased when it is mixed with another non-metal and metal.
The metals melt at high temperatures but when the metals are alloyed then this reduces the melting point.
Metals are easily attacked by weather changes and other chemical components. Alloys are corrosion resistant which makes them more usable than metals.
Alloys can be used for changing the color of the base metal.
Metals when solidified after melting, they show contraction of some amount. But when alloys are melted and solidified, they expand which can be used for castings.
5. Give examples of some alloys and their composition.
Some of the examples of alloys are as follows:
Bronze which has been used for decades is a mixture of copper and tin. Some quantities like nickel, zinc and manganese are also added to this.
Steel is made by using an iron and carbon mixture and it is corrosion resistant and is hard.
Brass is made by mixing zinc and copper and sometimes other metals are also used.
Alnico is made by mixing nickel, cobalt and aluminium which is a ferromagnetic substance and can be used as magnets.
Solder is made of tin and lead that has low melting points and can be used to join two metals.
Cast iron is made by mixing iron and carbon and sometimes traces of silicon are also used. They have a low melting point and do not get easily deformed.
6. Give properties of steel alloy.
Steel alloy is used widely and is popular because of its low cost and great strength. It is an alloy made by mixing iron and carbon. Different steel has different amounts of carbon present in them. They also have other elements like manganese, sulfur, nickel, copper, chromium and molybdenum. The steel has a 75% iron composition and varying amounts of carbon. Stainless steel has about 85% of iron, 10.5 % of chromium, and 1.2 % of carbon along with some other elements too.