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Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin(generally). In the ancient world these could both be found as pure metal in nature and they can be smelted using basic metallurgical skills. Aluminium on the other hand is only found in the combined form in nature, generally alumina in bauxite. To refine aluminium from its ore requires the melting of alumina and electrolysis to refine the metal. (this requires electricity which the ancients didn't have) In fact aluminium use to be valued higher than gold! That is why the Washington Monument's tip is an aluminium pyramid!!!
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∙ 16y ago
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∙ 14y agoIron can be refined using primitive methods involving little more than fire and a bellows. Aluminum smelters use large amounts of electricity, which was not commercially available before the late 19th century.
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∙ 14y agoBronze preceded iron as a widely worked metal due to the fact that the metals which make bronze are easily recovered from their ores, and the resulting alloy is soft enough to be easily worked with the raw materials which were then available.
Bronze is an alloy of tin and copper and is lower in the reactivity series than iron. This means Bronze is easier to get out of its ore than iron. So bronze was found first and once we got good at getting bronze it was easier for us to extract iron.
Iron is a common element in the earth's crust, but it almost always occurs as a compound, it is very rarely to find it naturally as metallic iron. Occasionally an iron meteorite will fall from space, to provide a 'magical' source of the metal. Such rare occurrences allowed a few smiths to discover the valuable properties of iron.
It is much more difficult to smelt iron than copper. In copper smelting, the copper flows as a liquid to the bottom of the furnace. The slag of waste material accumulates on top of the copper, and can be poured off to leave behind the copper. The copper is easily identified as copper, and the process is intuitive. But the physical chemistry of smelting iron from oxide or sulfide ores differs from that of copper, which may well have made iron smelting difficult to recognize even when it had happened. In principle, iron can be smelted from magnetite or hematite, which are comparatively common ores, but iron does not melt at the temperatures that can be reached in a primitive furnace: iron is still solid when copper and bronze are molten.
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∙ 6y agoCopper is a very soft ore and bronze is harder. When using tools copper tools had to be sharpened over and over again. Often the workers had spares so they could keep working. Bronze solved all the problems.
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∙ 11y agoIron is much easier to extract from its ore.
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∙ 11y agoCopper and Aluminium are elements but Bronze is a compound of Copper and Tin
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∙ 8y agoPure copper is much softer than bronze, so bronze could stand much more wear and tear and was much more effective in weaponry.
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What happens when aluminium reacts with iron oxide and where is this reaction used?
Iron is formed with aluminium oxide. The reaction is used for welding iron (steel) components.
Why aluminium and not iron is used to build aeroplanes?
aluminium is very good at conducting heat but iron no
What metal is the best conductor of heat aluminium iron or brass?
Aluminum have better thermal conductivity than ironAluminum: 205W/(m K)Iron: 80 W/(m K)
Why is most aluminium recycled?
The metals are collected and then melted at high temperature. They then have any impurities scraped off the top of the container of molten metal. The pure molten metal is then poured into casts and cooled. The blocks of metal can now be used again. It is cheaper and less environmentally damaging to recycle metals rather than extract them from their ores, in the ground.
Why is aluminium used in the central core in power cables?
Aluminium is a) strong b) light c) fairly cheap d) not a terrible conductor of electricity. It's much stronger, lighter, and cheaper than any material that conducts electricity significantly better than aluminium does.Why is that important?Well, if you're making wires for long-distance power transmission, having the wires be strong and light means you can put the towers further apart, which is a significant savings. In fact, aluminium is SO light that you can make the wire thicker (which makes it even stronger), and since power-carrying-capacity increases with increased cross-sectional area, the fact that it doesn't conduct as well as, say, copper becomes less important. And aluminium is so much cheaper than copper that even the thicker aluminium wire is cheaper than a copper wire of the same carrying capacity.
What happens when aluminium reacts with iron oxide and where is this reaction used?
Iron is formed with aluminium oxide. The reaction is used for welding iron (steel) components.
Why cast iron and aluminium used for chassis rather than titanium and magnsium?
Because of the cost
What is the properties and is uses of copper aluminium iron and steel?
copper aluminium iron and steel is an excellent conductor of electricity and heat is one of the properties of copper aluminium iron and steel and it is used in conducting electricity.
Why is a mixture of iron and aluminium used in power cables?
Iron strengthens the aluminum
What is used to make aeroplanes aluminium or iron?
aluminum
Suggest why aluminium is more expensive than iron?
Aluminium is more expensive than iron because of its lower abundance in the Earth's crust. It is also more costly to extract and refine aluminium due to the energy-intensive process of electrolysis. Additionally, aluminium has a higher demand and is used in a wide range of industries which further contributes to its higher price.
What is the most common metal used by man?
iron, aluminium, magnesium.
Why aluminium and not iron is used to build aeroplanes?
aluminium is very good at conducting heat but iron no
What metal is the best conductor of heat aluminium iron or brass?
Aluminum have better thermal conductivity than ironAluminum: 205W/(m K)Iron: 80 W/(m K)
Why was iron used extensively long before aluminum even though there is more aluminum in the earths crust?
Iron was used first because it was easier to aquire. In ancient times iron could be found either as the metal or as its ore and could be reduced to the metal by burning it with a high carbon source(charcoal was used until coke replaced it because of enviromental concerns and cost). Carbon is more reactive than iron so it reduces the ore to iron. While there is a lot of aluminium in the crust none of it is pure, and aluminium is more reactive than carbon so it was impossible to reduce with the normal methods of the ancients. Aluminium is produced by melting the ore and using electrolysis (this is sending an electric current through the liquid which breaks the molecular bonds. This requires electricity which the ancients were lacking in.). summary: iron was easier to get to and use P.S. it is good that they used iron for buildings and weapons. Aluminium fatiques and it would break, causing lots of problems.
What mineral weights less than iron but doesn't rust. it is used to make ships?
That metal sounds a lot like aluminum.
What catlyst is used in making ammonia?
Iron mixtured mixed with Aluminium oxide and potassium oxide.
