Iron
hideIron (pronounced /ˈаɪ.ərn/) is a chemical element with the symbol Fe (Latin: ferrum) and atomic number 26. Iron is a group 8 and period 4 element. Iron and iron alloys (steels) are by far the most common metals and the most common ferromagnetic materials in everyday use. Fresh iron surfaces are lustrous and silvery-grey in colour, but oxidise in air to form a red or brown coating of ferrous oxide or rust. Pure single crystals of iron are soft (softer than aluminium), and the addition of minute amounts of impurities, such as carbon, significantly strengthens them. Alloying iron with appropriate small amounts (up to a few per cent) of other metals and carbon produces steel, which can be 1,000 times harder than pure iron.
Iron-56 is the heaviest stable isotope produced by the alpha process in stellar nucleosynthesis; heavier elements than iron and nickel require a supernova for their formation. Iron is the most abundant element in the core of red giants, and is the most abundant metal in iron meteorites and in the dense metal cores of planets such as Earth.
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News tagged with iron
Modern tests demonstrate soundness of old iron bridge
Dec 21, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (8) |
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An unusual bowstring truss iron bridge that carried traffic across Roaring Run in Bedford County, Va. for almost 100 years is now a picturesque footbridge at the I-81 Ironto, Va. rest stop. Built in 1878, ...
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Heme channel found
Dec 17, 2009 |
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In some ways a cell in your body or an organelle in that cell is like an ancient walled town. Life inside either depends critically on the intelligence of the gatekeepers.
New Study of Meteorite Provides More Evidence for Ancient Life on Mars
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 17, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (41) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In 1996, when scientists examined a meteorite from Mars previously uncovered in Antarctica, they were intrigued by what looked like microscopic fossils of ancient Martian life forms. Now, ...
Google fined $14,300 a day in France over books
Dec 18, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A Paris court ruled Friday that Google Inc.'s expansion into digital books breaks France's copyright laws, and a judge slapped the Internet search leader with a euro10,000-a-day fine until it stops ...
Shallow Origins
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 22, 2009 |
5 / 5 (11) |
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In finding answers to the mystery of the origin of life, scientists may not have to dig too deep. New research is shedding light on shallower waters as a possible location for where life on Earth began.
Physicists detect two candidate dark matter interactions, but say the data are not conclusive
Dec 18, 2009 |
4.1 / 5 (16) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have spent decades searching for the elusive material known as dark matter, which is believed to make up 25 percent of the universe. On Thursday, Dec. 17, a team of physicists including ...
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