08. Steel

What is an alloy?

Mixture of metals / atoms

What happens to metals less reactive than carbon?

Can be extracted from their oxides by reduction with carbon

What can be extracted from their oxides?

Metals less reactive than carbon

What makes iron brittle?

Impurities

What happens if you remove iron’s impurities?

Creates pure iron

What does pure iron have?

Regular arrangement of atoms, layers that slide over each other, soft and easily shaped

What are most irons converted into?

Steels

Why are steels alloys?

They’re a mixture of carbon and iron

What do the different sizes of atoms do?

Distort layers in pure metal structures

What do distorted layers in pure metal structures do?

Make it difficult for them to slide over eachother, making alloys harder