Question

What is an alloy? Give two examples with their chemical composition.

Answer 1

Hint:Some metals are made by using two more different metal elements. These different types of metal are combined in definite proportions with each other to make the specific type of the metal.

Complete step by step answer:
-Alloys are the metal mixtures in which metal elements are combined with precision to obtain the required properties of the metal. Alloys are generally metallic in nature. Alloys have good thermal and electrical conductivity. The creation of an alloy reduces the price of the material. It also maintains the desired properties of the metal.
-The combination of different metals improves the material's properties and offers high resistance to oxidation and mechanical strength. Alloys are used in several industries, such as military, in medical equipment, in commercial and industrial materials. Some of the examples of alloys are brass, bronze, stainless steel, etc.
-Let us now look at the examples of alloys.
1.The composition of brass:
Brass is an alloy consisting primarily of copper and zinc. It commonly contains lead and may include iron, manganese, aluminium, silicon, or other elements. The different types of brasses have different proportions of zinc and copper. It is given below:
Alpha brasses: Cu > 65% and Zn < 35%
Alpha-beta brasses: Cu 55-65% and Zn 35-45%
Beta brasses: Cu 50-55% and Zn 45-50%
Gamma brasses: Cu 61-67% and Zn 33-39%
White brass: Cu < 50% and Zn > 50%
2.The composition of bronze:
Bronze is an alloy of copper but sometimes tin is added as an additive. Some elements like phosphorus, manganese, aluminium or silicon may also be added. It contains 80-90% of copper, 5-12% of tin, 1-9% of zinc and 1-3% of lead. All these values are % in weight.
There are three different types of bronze:
Statuary bronze: Approximately 97% Cu, 2% Sn and 1% Zn.
Architectural bronze: Approximately 57% Cu, 40% Sn and 3% Pb.
Commercial bronze: Approximately 90% Cu and 10% Zn.

Note:
 Brass and bronze can seem similar in appearances, but they are two different alloys. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, whereas bronze is an alloy of copper but sometimes tin is added as an additive. Brass is golden, reddish gold or silver in color. But, bronze is reddish brown in color and not as bright as brass.