IGCSE CHEMISTRY 0620 LESSON 11 EXPLANATION

Describing Alloys

Core:

• Describe an alloy, such as brass, as a mixture of a metal with other elements

• Alloys are mixtures of metals, where the metals are mixed together but are not chemically combined.
• They can be made from metals mixed with nonmetals such as carbon.
• Alloys often have properties that can be very different to the metals they contain, for example they can have more strength, hardness or resistance to corrosion or extreme temperatures.
• Alloys contain atoms of different sizes, which distorts the regular arrangements of atoms.
• This makes it more difficult for the layers to slide over each other, so they are usually much harder than the pure metal.
• Brass is a common example of an alloy which contains 70% copper and 30% zinc.