Throughout history, iron has undergone several processes of harvesting and manipulation (of chemical and physical structure). It has been used for different things, from jewelry and eating utensils to weapons and architecture. As time has progressed a better understanding of metals and their relations with each other has increased. Working with iron has changed from just heating the hell out of a strange metal to blasting the metal in a furnace with other molecules (and also heating the hell out of it). Iron use first began around 1500 BCE, and is suspected to have began in the Near East around Mesopotamia. Current understanding indicates the Hittites from the fertile crescent area had the best grasp of iron working for their time. The period following the fall of the Hittites is known as the Iron Age. Within two hundred years, iron working had reached Europe. As iron use spread, so did the knowledge of iron working methods. Casting iron was soon developed in China and eventually steel was being made from iron. Iron’s use really took off in the 18th century though with the Industrial Revolution and the discovery of blast furnacing. Blast furnaces allowed steel to be mass produced. WIth the mass production of steel, bigger and much taller buildings were able to be built. The spread of urbanization wasn’t just on the ground anymore. Buildings could now reach to the sky. In this urban world, iron had found its place
Iron has maintained several uses since its durability was discovered thousands of years ago. It replaced the use of bronze for tools and weapons in Asia and in Europe during the Iron Age. It was also used for jewelry around the same time and wrought iron, specifically, has been used for decoration ever since then. Cast iron is now frequently used for pots and pans because it has a unique chemical property allowing it to heat evenly across its surface. Steel is (as of now) the furthest advancement of iron use. Steel has been used for a few centuries but its accessibility really advanced with the use of blast furnaces. Early on it was created through the process of smelting pig iron. These four forms of iron(wrought iron, cast iron, steel, and pig iron) are all allows made with different concentrations of carbon. The carbon amount has different effects on each form of iron. Wrought iron has a low concentration so its probably the easiest to mold and bend. Steel has the second lowest but is quite a bit more than wrought iron. Steel is arguably the strongest form of iron as well. When too much carbon is in an iron alloy it begins to get too hard and brittle. This is what occurs with pig iron, making its uses limited and mostly for short periods of time. Cast iron has a carbon content between steel and pig iron, so it’s more durable than pig iron but doesn’t possess the strength of steel. Overall, iron has many uses. If one is to look at the chemical substances used on a daily basis they will probably find that many have at least a small portion of iron in them. Most products that are used in society are combinations of chemicals and these combinations of chemicals tend to use the same thirty or so elements. Iron happens to be one of these elements. Iron is also one of three pure elements (iron, nickel, and cobalt) that is ferromagnetic (or ferrimagnetic) meaning it can be magnetized and permanently retain a magnetic field. All other metals and alloys may possess a magnetism but are much weaker and won’t retain magnetic fields. Due to iron’s abundance and magnetic capabilities it is very commonly used for magnets. Basically, iron’s use boils down to tools, structures, and magnets.
properties
- atomic number is 26
- atomic weight is 55.845 amu
- transition metal
- belongs to group 8, period 4, and block d
- electron configuration: [Ar]3d64s2
- electrons per shell: 2, 8, 14, 2
- density: 7.874 g x cm-3
- rarely found by itself in nature/mostly as oxides(rust)
- sixth most abundant element in the universe, most abundant on Earth, and fourth most abundant in the crust
- iron alloys are the most common and practical metals
- it is a solid at room temperature
- melts at 1538 degrees Celsius
- boils at 2862 degrees Celsius
- combined with other metals to strengthen and reduce oxidation
- always heated to react with other metals
- close to neutral pH level
I will definitely have to limit the amount of text I'm using right now. Iron is very useful, abundant and has had a long history so there's a lot to go into. I'll just have to limit it to what's important and what I'm focusing on.
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