Question #ccd60
1 Answer
A mixture of metals or a mixture of a metal and another element.
Explanation:
An alloy is made when two or more elements are melted together, and at least one of them is a metal. Once cooled, the alloy crystallizes into a solid solution, mixture, or intermetallic compound. An alloy cannot be seperated into its base elements by physical means.
https://www.thoughtco.com/alloy-definition-examples-and-uses-606371
Alloy's have been used for thouasand's of years, and are the main types of metals used in the world today. This is because alloy's typically bear superior qualities to the element's they were formed from.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alloy#Theory
A classic example is that of steel. Pure steel is made of mostly iron and bit of carbon. Iron by itself is quite strong, but very brittle and very likely to break under a sudden shock. Carbon by its own is a soft, brittle non-metal, and not useful for any type of situation involving impact. Mix them together, however, and you get steel, a metal alloy which has a greater hardness then iron, yet has an added tensile strength that could only be got from the carbon. Mix in some chromium, and you get stainless steel, which is resistant to corrosion.
http://www.technologystudent.com/joints/alloys1.html
I hope I helped!
