A Quick Overview of Iron as an Alloy

A Quick Overview of Iron as an Alloy rnWord count: 378 Iron, like gravity, penicillin and vulcanized rubber, was discovered accidentally. They say iron was discovered when people observed that ores reduced when left in cook fires for a long time. It was also observed that higher temperatures produced better quality iron. Since then peoples from different cultures have started their attempts at developing iron to make alloys for everyday use. Wrought iron was first developed in Egypt as a material for their weapons from 2500 to 3000 BC. Wrought iron has very small carbon content. It used to be called pure iron for commercial purposes. They were extra popular when they were first produced because they were far stronger than bronze, the only drawback being the fact that they corrode or rust easily. Because of this, it took hundreds of years more before iron replaced bronze. The Hittites effectively smelted iron from ores in 1500 to1200 BC, and this gave way to the Iron Age. Cast iron on the other hand, was first made in China in 550 BC, and did not reach Europe till before the Middle Ages. It had more carbon content than wrought iron. It was eventually used for structural and architectural purposes like building bridges, buildings, even sewage pipes, and now, cookware. Steel is the type of iron alloy that has less carbon content that cast iron but still more than wrought iron. It was first produced by Iranian blacksmiths in 1000 BC and then developed in India in 300 BC and China in 500 AD. The production of steel was so cheap that it rendered wrought iron production useless for a while. Steel, like cast iron, is typically used in building infrastructures and in architecture, as well as for aesthetic purposes like ornamental iron doors for residential and commercial properties. And while ornamental iron doors and most of all these other products of steel, including steel tools can also be made of wrought or cast iron, producers opt to make them with steel because of the lower production costs without much difference in quality. Furthermore, the consequent discovery of stainless steel then allowed the use of alloy for not only structural and aesthetic purposes like bridge supports and ornamental iron doors but also for more delicate tools such as kitchen and dining utensils.