Explain why we produce and use alloys rather than just pure metals. (1 Viewer)

[clintmyster]

I have this question to answer:

Explain why we produce and use alloys rather than just pure metals.

is it just because we can make substances harder and make them more suited to our needs like iron becoming steel that is used in infastructures? Or is there more to it?

 

[minijumbuk]

Yes.
By mixing (note that alloys are MIXES) the metals together, the little "gaps" between the metallic structure is filled in by the metal impurities. This means that there are less "gaps" in the structure, making it more dense.
E.g. Iron can be mixed with different types of metals to become alloys. You should be able to find some in your textbook (because I forgot them hahaha).

They should give you a table of advantages of using alloys, which give them extra properties, rather than the pure Iron. E.g. Steel has a much higher tensile strength than iron etc...

 

[clintmyster]

seems like i knew what i was talking about. Thanks for the help!

 

[Felix Jones]

we can, not only make the metal stronger by mixing it with other substances (when with other mtals it is known as an alloy), but also it reduces costs e.g. 2 tonnes of pure iron would costs more than 2 tones of, one of its alloys.

alloys also helps suit our needs better as we can manipulate the results obtained from mixing metals, hence getting the metals with the desirable characteristics that is at the same time economically effiecient.

 

[brenton1987]

By mixing (note that alloys are MIXES) the metals together, the little "gaps" between the metallic structure is filled in by the metal impurities.

That is true for an interstitial alloy such as carbon steel where carbon atoms fill in the gaps between iron atoms.
The other type of alloy is a substitutional alloy which is when an atom of element 1 replaces an atom of element 2 while maintaining the same overall structure, such as when iron is replaced with chromium or manganese in stainless steels.