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- Name : Iron
- Symbol : Fe
- Atomic # : 26
- Atom weight: 55.847
- Melting P. : 1535
- Boiling P. : 2750
- Oxidation : +2, +3
- Pronounced : EYE-ern
- From : Name from Anglo-Saxon, iron; Symbol from Latin ferrum, iron
- Identified : Identified and used since prehistoric times
- Appearance : Malleable, ductile, silvery-white metal
- Note : The fourth most abundant element in earth's crust
-
- [Properties]
-
- Iron is generally described as a moderately heavy, hard, malleable, and
- ductile metal. In its pure form, it has a silvery-white color. One of the
- most distinctive features is its ability to take and retain a magnetic
- field. Iron is one of the Group-VII transition metals. These metals have
- two incomplete electron shells.
- Iron has four allotropic forms. The alpha form is the most familiar
- because it is the one that exists at room temperature. As the temperature
- rises above 770 degrees, the beta form emerges. The most critical feature
- of this particular transition is that the iron loses its magnetic
- properties. Transitions to the gamma and delta forms take places at 928
- and 1530 degrees, respectively.
-