My Science School

Iron was popular in ancient India. The extraction of iron in India dates back to the 4th century BC. Iron was used to make ornaments, weapons and buildings.

Indian smiths had developed many advanced techniques of processing iron that did not exist anywhere else in the world in those days. Expert craftsmen created many beautiful structures from iron which have lasted centuries without rusting.

In Delhi, there is a famous iron pillar that stands testimony to the high level of skill achieved by ancient Indian ironsmiths. In fact, it has withstood corrosion for the last 1,600 years! This pillar had sparked the interest of many material scientists across the world.

The iron beams in the Surya temple at Konarak in coastal Orissa, and the iron pillar at Mookambika temple are also examples of the skill of the ancient ironsmiths in treating iron so that it became rust- resistant.

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Gold secured a place in the hearts of early humans the moment the sparkling yellow grains were discovered for the first time. Humans have longed for gold ever since then. Men fought for it, women adored it.

We know the story of king Midas. According to Greek mythology, king Midas was granted the boon to turn anything that he touches into gold. He jumped with joy when the leaves and fruits that he touched turned into gold. However, he soon realized that the boon that he had asked for was in fact, a terrible curse.

He could not eat or drink, nor even wash his hands. Everything he touched turned into gold the moment he touched it. The boon was finally taken back after begging the gods for mercy.

The story of king Midas conveys the importance that was associated with gold. He asks nothing else but gold. Ancient kings and queens have always tried to amass as much gold as they could. This is why gold has been called the ‘king of metals’ and ‘the metal of kings’.

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Modern construction work will be reduced to almost nothing if not for iron and steel. Want to know why? Let us take a look.

If you have visited a construction site, you will see a lot of large girders. The framework of steel girders that you see in the buildings under construction is designed to bear the weight of the building. Without this framework, buildings made from just stone or brick would have to have very thick walls at the bottom. This would limit their height.

Iron plays important roles in other construction activities too. Cast-iron is used to make buildings and fences, while railway tracks are made of steel. Iron is also an ideal material for building bridges.

The first iron bridge was built in 1778, and in 1818 the first iron ship was launched. You all know about Paris’s famous Eiffel Tower. This 300 metres tall tower is built of latticed iron. The uses for iron and steel in construction are many, and continue to expand as the years go by.

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You might have seen reddish orange patches on iron at times. These patches are known as rust. Rust forms on iron because of oxidization, when the oxygen of the air burns the surface of the iron. It can be rubbed off in the form of fine powder just like ash.

Rusting damages the iron; it spoils the appearance of cars and buildings and the damage it causes costs a lot of money to be set right. However, rust is not that bad. It is actually beneficial to us in many ways.

Rust mixes with the soil, giving it a good brown or red colour. When powdered rust dissolves in water, it is taken up by plants and this eventually contributes to their green colour. Finally, through water and plants, we take iron into our bodies to give us the red colour of our blood.

Let us now look at how iron is converted into steel. Steelmaking is a tedious task. In most of the iron ores, iron is found in the form of iron oxides. We have already discussed how iron is extracted by heating it with coke using a, blast furnace.

The extracted iron might contain other metal impurities that are further removed or reduced by mixing it with scrap iron, blowing pure oxygen into the mixture, and adding calcium oxide later.

Slag will be formed as a reaction and it is removed. The iron extract after removing the slag is used to make steel. Other elements like manganese, chromium and nickel are added to the sourced iron to make steel.

The practice of steelmaking is centuries-old. Steelmaking flourished in the 19th century; nowadays, there are different techniques for steelmaking.

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Tools and weapons were essential for the survival of ancient humans. Since blacksmiths were the ones who made weapons and tools out of iron, they were revered. There is a beautiful old tale that illustrates how important blacksmiths were to a community.

Thousands of years ago, the wise king Solomon built a beautiful temple in Jerusalem. To celebrate the completion of the temple, he held a feast for his men. At the feast, he asked whose contribution to the creation of the temple was the greatest.

Everyone was in a hurry to make themselves sound important. The mason, the carpenter and the digger all claimed that theirs had been the most significant contribution. It was then that the king pointed out, that though their work was important; the greatest contribution was made by the blacksmith who made their tools, for without their tools they could not work, and without the blacksmith there would be no tools!

The early knowledge of iron comes from meteorites as we already mentioned. Early humans thought that these huge stones fell from heaven. Iron was the prominent element in the meteorites that fell on Earth. Many of them were made of up to 90 per cent iron. Therefore, iron was referred to and was described as ‘celestial stone’ in many ancient texts.

Hundreds of meteorites hit the surface of the earth every year. Some of these meteorites were really huge. One of the heaviest meteorites ever found is called the Hoba. This meteorite weighed about 60 tons.

In 1894, the polar explorer Robert Peary found a meteorite weighing 33 tons in Greenland. A gigantic iron meteorite hit the Arizona desert in prehistoric times leaving a crater that is 1200 metres in diameter and over 175 metres deep. The crater exists in Arizona even today.

Till about 1500 BC, iron was not a popular metal. Why was this so though iron was abundant on Earth? This was because of the difficulty in extracting iron, though the Hittites in West Asia did learn how to use it.

The Hittites kept the secret of making iron for about 400 years! They found out that iron weapons were better than bronze ones and that is why they decided not to tell anybody else how to make iron. The secret of making iron came to India with the Aryans. The Aryans invaded India around 1500 BC. People who lived in China learned how to make iron by around 700 or 600 BC. By about 300 AD, people in West Africa and East Africa too had learned the secrets of making iron.

Some people treasured iron more than gold as it was a rarity. Iron jewellery was worn by only the wealthiest people, and in ancient Rome, even wedding rings were made of iron! Though iron gradually became more easily available and cheaper, some tribes still considered it precious.

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The earth’s core is believed to consist largely of an iron-nickel alloy. In fact, iron makes up about 5 per cent of the Earth’s crust. Most of the iron in the Earth’s crust is combined with oxygen. Therefore, it is much more difficult to extract iron than other metals like copper.

Iron is extracted from iron ore in a huge steel column called a blast furnace. Coke, limestone and hot air are essential for the extraction of iron from its ore.

The blast furnace is heated by burning coke. When the coke burns, it produces carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide reacts with more coke to produce a gas called carbon monoxide, which in turn reacts with the iron oxide in the iron ore to produce molten iron. The molten iron is then purified using limestone, and allowed to cool in moulds to produce cast iron.

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Some elements are essential for the normal growth and development of plant and animal life. Such elements are known as bioelements.

Plant life will be doomed if copper is not present on Earth. We all know that plants prepare food with the help of chlorophyll. Copper is essential for the production of chlorophyll; without it, the chlorophyll content of leaves would be reduced, turning them yellow. The plant would not be able to bear fruits and would eventually die.

Copper is necessary for animal life and human life too. Copper plays a crucial role in human growth. Copper is essential for bone strength, the maturation of red and white blood cells, cholesterol and glucose metabolism, the contraction of heart muscles, and brain development. Copper deficiency can lead to health problems such as anaemia, heart problems, bone abnormalities and complications in the functioning of the nervous and immune systems.

Your parents encourage you to eat iron-rich foods like spinach, lentils and dry fruits. Some of you might have been advised by doctors to take iron tablets for iron deficiency. But why do we need iron in our diet? Iron is an integral part of many proteins and enzymes that maintain good health in human beings and animals. So, all of us are iron boys and iron girls in this way!

Iron is one of the most abundant metals on Earth. This element is essential for plant and animal life. Plants need iron for the formation of chlorophyll, and for respiration. If a person’s blood does not have enough iron in it, he or she will become tired easily and suffer from frequent headaches. In fact, iron is vital for the production of haemoglobin, which gives blood its red hue.

Though it was known that iron has medicinal properties right from ancient times, the presence of iron in human blood was not discovered until the 19th century.

A chemical compound is obtained when two or more chemical elements are combined in definite proportions. The proportion of the elements is defined by weight. Some of the chemical compounds are useful to humankind.

Copper sulphate is one of the most important compounds of copper; it is used to refine copper. Copper sulphate has some agricultural uses as well. It is used as the base for many fungicides and also as an additive in animal feed. Copper oxide is used to make blue or green glazes in pottery. It is also used to colour artificial gems and glass.

Copper chloride is often used as a disinfectant. It is used for dyeing clothes and in textile printing too. Further it is used as a catalyst in many organic and inorganic reactions. While these compounds are useful to humans some of these compounds of copper can cause severe health problems as well.

Not only historical ages, but some revolutions too were named after metals. Here is the story of one such revolution.

In 1662, Russia was in a state of unrest. The people were exhausted after a lengthy war with Poland and Sweden. In addition to that, Russians were faced with frequent crop failures, as a result of which, heavy taxes were imposed by the Czar, or ruler of Russia. It was during this time that the Russian government decided to begin issuing copper money in large quantities instead of silver money, which was already in existence.

The replacement of silver coins was followed by a sharp rise in the prices of bread and other foodstuff. Needless to say, the people of Russia were infuriated by the changing social situations. They rioted in response to the changes on July 25 1662, but the Czar put down the riots with an iron hand. Hundreds of people were killed and thousands were either sent to prison or exiled to Siberia.

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Don’t be surprised to learn that copper has medicinal properties. In fact, copper is used in some of the traditional medicines across the world.

Many forms of copper and copper compounds, such as copper carbonate, copper silicate, copper oxide, copper sulphate and copper chloride were used throughout history for the treatment of disease. In ancient Egypt, copper was used to purify drinking water. Copper was also used to sterilize wounds, the treatment of headaches, trembling of the limbs, burns, and itching. The Greeks used copper for treating leg ulcers associated with varicose veins, while the Romans used it to purge stomach ache and treat ear and eye disorders.

Copper was chosen to make jewellery considering their health benefits. For many years, copper jewellery was worn as a remedy for various ailments, including arthritis. Many scholars across the world are still researching about the healing properties of copper.

Copper is one of the most used metals right from the beginning of civilizations. Copper had many qualities that were ideal for making tools, utensils and weapons.

This reddish brown metal is malleable and does not react with water or steam. It does not react with the oxygen in the air either, unless heated strongly. Copper is a good conductor of heat and electricity. That is why copper is used to make wires and utensils. Copper is used to make coins as well.

Copper is an indispensable metal in the electronic industry. In fact, almost all electrical devices rely on copper wiring because copper is inexpensive and highly conductive. Copper is mixed with other metals to make alloys with desirable properties.

The number of alloys made with copper is ever growing. Nowadays, copper is mixed with zinc, tin, aluminium, lead, silicon, manganese, cadmium and even chromium to make alloys.