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Metals - Alloys
Bronze and cupronickel are both used to make coins. They are both examples of alloys.

Metals - Alloys

This is the first of our GCSE Chemistry quizzes on the topic of metals. In it we will find out about some of the properties and uses of alloys, the metals formed by mixing two or more (usually metallic) elements.

Although they have some incredible properties, metals on their own aren't always suitable materials for us to use. Most of the metals we use in our everyday lives are alloys. Pure copper, gold, iron and aluminium are too soft for many jobs so what can we do to improve their properties? Well, we can mix them with other elements to form alloys. Alloys are normally (but not always) a mixture of two or more metallic elements. A good example of this is the mixing of carbon with iron to make a range of steels. Iron from the blast furnace is a brittle material but when mixed with the right amount of carbon it becomes extremely malleable and ductile. It can be hammered and bent into shape or drawn out into thin wires.

Humans have crossed through several 'ages' to become what we are today. In the stone age (actually there are three stone ages recognised), the only metals that were known were those that occured naturally - gold, maybe some copper and some iron from recently fallen meteorites. That made metals very rare and therefore valuable. Copper and tin are easily smelted but soft, however, early humans discovered that they could mix the two together to produce a harder metal that could be sharpened and used for tools and weapons - the Bronze Age had arrived. In Britain, that was about 4,500 years ago so alloys have been used for quite a long time! It took about 1,700 more years for the next alloy to come into use - steel. Humans had entered the Iron Age. They had discovered how to extract iron from iron ore using charcoal and that hammering hot iron that had traces of charcoal on its surface prodiced a material that was harder and more durable than bronze. They had no knowledge of chemistry of course and didn't realise that what they were doing was forcing atoms of carbon into the layers of iron atoms, making it stronger and more malleable.

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, driven by the Industrial Revolution, scientists developed many other new alloys which are used for many different jobs. Alloys have usually been invented to be harder, lighter and more corrosion resistant than the metals from which they are made, however there are plenty of exceptions, for example, nitinol 'remembers' its original shape when it is heated and is used to make spectacle frames whilst solder is designed to melt and re-solidify quickly to join other metals together.

1.
Bronze is an alloy made from...
copper and tin
copper and brass
copper and zinc
copper and iron
Bronze can be used to make statues, musical instruments and medals
2.
Some alloys have very special properties. They return to their original shape after becoming deformed. These alloys are called...
shape memory alloys
shape remembering alloys
bend memory alloys
bendy alloys
This can be very useful in things like spectacles. How many people break their spectacles by sitting on them?
3.
Gold that is used to make jewellery is usually an alloy. It is mixed with copper and silver. Apart from making it harder, what other property is changed by mixing it with other metals?
Increases its density
Lowers its melting point
Colour
Decreases its hardness
The colour of gold is dependent on the metals it has been alloyed with. The amount of copper added to gold determines how 'red' the gold is
4.
Metals are often mixed with other elements to make alloys. Which of the following is NOT a good reason for producing an alloy?
It can produce harder materials
It can produce different coloured materials
It can produce more malleable materials
It can produce more brittle materials
Alloys are produced to make the properties of the materials more beneficial
5.
Nitinol is a 'smart' alloy. Why can it be described as a 'smart' alloy?
It expands when it is heated
It is flexible
It is made by mixing two metals
It returns to its original shape when heated
The discovery that nitinol has this property was discovered by accident in 1961
6.
Nitinol is an alloy made from...
copper and titanium
nickel and copper
neon and titanium
nickel and titanium
This alloy was developed in 1959 during research to produce better nose cones for military missiles
7.
Bronze and cupronickel are both used to make coins. They are both examples of...
compounds
alloys
elements
ores
These alloys are resistant to corrosion
8.
Which type of steel is likely to be used for cutlery?
High carbon steel
Low carbon steel
Stainless steel
Pure iron
Stainless steel is highly resistant to rusting so the cutlery will remain shiny and not corroded
9.
Brass is an alloy made from...
copper and tin
copper and bronze
copper and zinc
copper and iron
Brass can be used to make doorknobs, ammunition and musical instruments
10.
Iron is mixed with other elements including carbon, chrominium and nickel to make steel. The percentage of the elements added determine the type of steel and also the properties of the steel produced. Which type of steel is likely to be used to make cutting tools?
High carbon steel
Low carbon steel
Stainless steel
Pure iron
This is a hard wearing type of steel
You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Metals and alloys

Author:  Kate Gardiner

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