Here are some of the
reasons why alloys are used in everyday life:
–Alloying strengthens a
metal.
•For example, gold is a
very soft metal, but if it is alloyed with copper it becomes
much stronger.
–That is because the
empty spaces in gold would now be occupied by copper ions making
it more compact and thus giving it more strength.
•Copper is also a soft
metal.
•It is often mixed with
small amounts of zinc to make a much harder alloy called
bronze.
–Alloys can be designed
to have different physical properties.
•For example, iron is
strong but it corrodes easily.
•But when iron is mixed
with chromium (and nickel) an alloy (stainless steel) is formed
which cannot corrode.