ALLOYS

There are a few more words you might hear when people talk about mixtures. We can't cover all of them, but we'll give you a quick overview of the biggies. Alloys are basically a mixture of two or more metals. Don't forget that there are many elements on the periodic table. Elements like calcium (Ca) and potassium (K) are considered metals. Of course, there are also metals like silver (Ag) and gold (Au). You can also have alloys that include small amounts of non-metallic elements like carbon (C). Metals are the key thing to remember for alloys.

The main idea with alloys is that they are better at something than any of the metals would be alone. Metallurgists (people who work with metals) sometimes add chromium (Cr) and/or nickel (Ni) to steel. While steel is already an alloy that is a very strong metal, the addition of small amounts of the other metals help steel resist rusting. Depending on what element is added, you could create Stainless Steel or Galvanized Steel. It's always about improving specific qualities of the original. Another good example of an alloy happens when metallurgists add carbon (C) to steel. A tiny amount of carbon (a non-metallic element) make steel stronger. These special carbon-steel alloys are used in armor plating and weapons.