Metals

• Actinides - any of the series of fifteen metallic elements from actinium (atomic number 89) to lawrencium (atomic number 103) in the periodic table. They are all radioactive, the heavier members being extremely unstable and not of natural occurrence.
• Alkali metals - the metals in Group 1 of the periodic table of elements
• Alkaline earth - metals metals which belong to group 2 in the periodic table
• Alloy - a mixture of a metal with at least one other element, usually another metal
• Amalgam - an alloy of mercury and silver or tin. It is used for dental fillings because it can be shaped when warm and resists corrosion.
• Brass - an alloy of copper and zinc; does not tarnish and is used for door knobs, buttons and musical instruments.
• Corrosion - a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable form such as oxide, hydroxide, or sulfide. It is the gradual destruction of materials by chemical and/or electrochemical reaction with their environment.
• Ductility - is a measure of a material's ability to undergo significant plastic deformation before rupture, which may be expressed as percent elongation or percent area reduction from a tensile test.
• Electrical conductivity - the degree to which a specified material conducts electricity. Lanthanides are a group of 15 chemical elements, with atomic numbers 57 through 71. All of these elements have one valence electron in the 5d shell.
• Luster - is a gentle sheen or soft glow, especially that of a partly reflective surface.
• Malleability - is a physical property of metals that defines the ability to be hammered, pressed or rolled into thin sheets without breaking.
• Ore - a naturally occurring solid material from which a metal or valuable mineral can be profitably extracted.
• Reactivity - the ease and speed with which an element combines, or reacts, with other elements and compounds
• Rusting - the specific name given to the corrosion of iron; a chemical reaction between iron, oxygen and water.
• Solder - an alloy of zinc and lead; is used in electronics to attach components to circuit boards.
• Sonority - is a nonbinary phonological feature categorizing sounds into a relative scale.
• Steel - an alloy containing iron and other elements
• Thermal conductivity - the ability of a material to transfer heat energy from one place to another
• Thermal Conductivity - is the rate at which heat passes through a specified material, expressed as the amount of heat that flows per unit time through a unit area with a temperature gradient of one degree per unit distance.
• Transition metals - High melting and boiling points, high densities, and high melting and boiling points
• Transition metals - the elements in Groups 3 through 12 in the periodic table
• Metalloids - They often create amphoteric oxides and behave in the same manner as semiconductors. The usually considered elements on this group are boron, silicon, germanium, arsenic, antimony & tellurium.
• low carbon steel - contains less than 0.25% carbon
• high carbon steel - contains more than 0.5% carbon.
• stainless steel – an alloy of iron that contains at least 11% chromium and smaller amounts of nickel and carbon
• titanium steel – an alloy of iron and titanium.
• Copper is also used to make electrical wiring and plumbing pipes due to its good conductivity and resistance to corrosion by water.
• copper-nickel alloys – alloys of copper and nickel used to make coins and plumbing fixtures.
• bronze – an alloy of copper containing small amounts of tin or other metals such as aluminum, manganese, nickel, zinc, magnesium, phosphorus, lead, or silicon.
• Lanthanides - are soft, malleable, shiny metals with high conductivity. They are mixed with more common metals to make alloys.
• Aluminum is the most abundant metal on Earth but it does not occur naturally because it reacts readily with oxygen to form Al2O3 (alumina). It must be extracted from bauxite ore using electrolysis.
• Shape memory alloy - is a type of smart material made from metals that returns to its original shape after being deformed.
• Nitinol is a type of shape memory alloy made from nickel and titanium. This material can be used to make a pair of glasses that ‘remembers’ its shape and does not break when crushed.