An alloy is a mixture of a metal with at least one other element.
Many of the ores used to produce iron, contain iron oxide. Iron oxide is reduced at high temperatures in a blast furnace using carbon. The iron produced contains 96% iron. Removing all the impurities makes pure iron, however this is too soft for many uses.
Most iron is used to make steels. Steels are alloys of iron because they are mixtures of iron with carbon and other elements. Alloys can be made so that they ahve properties for specific uses.
The amounts of carbon and other elements are carefully adjusted when amking steels. Low carbon steels are easily shaped and high-carbon steels are hard.
Some steels, such as stainless steels, contain larger quantities of other metals. They resist corrosion.
Steels have many uses in modern buildings. Steels are more useful than pure iron because they are harder, can be made with specific properties and can be made to resist corrosion.
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