2. What is metal?
• Metals are one of the most
important elements that we use in
our every day lives, but what we
need to understand why it is
important. And to find out why,
we need to first understand the
Physical Properties of metals.
3. The Physical properties of
metal
Metals have varying degrees of
hardness.
• Metals conduct electricity and heat.
• Metals are usually shiny. They have
luster.
• Metals have relatively high melting
points and remain in the liquid state
over a wide temperature range.
• They are malleable
LUSTER - The quality of
shining by reflecting light
MALLEABLE - It can be
bent or shaped
4. Types of metal
• Aluminium These are just the
most popular metals
• Chromium
so there are lots more
• Cobalt than this!
• Copper
• Gold
• iron
• Lead
• Magnesium
• Maganese
• Mercury
• Nickel
• Platinum
• Silver
• Tin
• Titanium
• Tungsten
• Zinc
5. Metal Alloys
What are metal alloys?
Metal alloys are a mixture of metals(and sometimes
non-metals); a metallic compound. People do this to
create new metals with superior quality
Here are some metal alloys:
• Duralumin - copper and aluminium
• Woods metal - lead, tin and cadmium
• Bronze - copper and tin
• Brass - copper and zinc
• Rose gold - copper and gold
• Solder - lead and tin
• Steel - iron and carbon, often other metals as well
6. Boiling point and melting
point
• Most metals melt at about 1300 °C or
2400 °F. They boil at around 3000 °C or
5400 °F - metals can withstand heat for
a long time!
7. Conductor or insulator?
• All metals are conductors which means
electricity can pass through them easily.
• This is why plug sockets and wires have
metal in the middle of them - copper is a
common metal used inside wiring
because it has very good conductivity.
Also, wires used as filaments in light
bulbs are made from tungsten.
8. Hot hot hot!!!
• Metal pots are made from a small range
of metals because pots and pans need to
conduct heat well, but also they
shouldn’t react with chemicals so that
they don’t change the flavour of the
food. Most materials that are conductive
enough to heat evenly are too reactive to
use in food preparation. Aluminum is a
good conductor of heat and is often used to
make cooking pots
9. Money!
Lots of different coin money are used in lots of
different countries they are made of metal
because:
1. Metals are valuable. Typically coins of higher
value are made of metal of higher value.
2. Metals are durable. Unlike stone, they won't
shatter; unlike wood, they don't burn easily and
are hard to break.
3. Metals are easy and cheap to form and stamp.
They can be melted and recast; they can be
stamped with the king's (or queen's) head and
anything else you want to put on them. In this
way, it becomes easier to tell real currency from
counterfeit.
10. Recycling metal
Did you know that you can recycle metal? - this is how
it’s recycled:
Scrap metal is entered into a blast furnace that burns at
extremely high temperatures. The exact temperature of
the furnace varies depending on the metal that is being
recycled. The blast furnace melts the scrap metal into its
molten (liquid) state and also helps to burn off any
impurities. After the metal is liquefied, it can then be
poured into moulds for use in new products.
11. A Few Facts
• Alkali metals such as sodium and potassium are
extremely reactive elements, just putting them in
water can result in an explosion! They are carefully
stored in oil to prevent this happening.
• Tungsten has a very high melting point, after
carbon it has the second highest melting point of
all elements
• At room temperature, mercury is the only metal
that is in liquid form.
12. We hope you enjoyed our
presentation!
By Jess Cooke & Grace Kieran
