Alloys (Edexcel IGCSE Chemistry)

Alloys

• An alloy is a mixture of two or more metals or metal with a non-metal such as carbon

  • Steel is made from iron and carbon

• Alloys often have properties that can be very different from the metals they contain

  • They can be stronger and harder

  • They are resistance to corrosion or extreme temperatures

• These enhanced properties can make alloys more useful than pure metals

• Alloys are harder than pure metals because: 

  • Alloys contain atoms of different sizes

  • This distorts the regular arrangements of atoms

  • So it is more difficult for the layers of atoms to slide over each other

• Brass is a common example of an alloy which contains 70% copper and 30% zinc

Alloy structure

The regular arrangement of a metal lattice structure is distorted in alloys