Prperties of metals

All metals are strong hard to break but they can be bent or hammered into different shapes. They conduct heat and conduct electricity aswell.Metals are found in the middle of the periodic table and have loads of everyday uses because of these properties: Their strength and bendability makes them handy for making things like bridges and car bodies. Metals are ideal if you want to make something that heat needs to travel through. The conductivity makes them great for making things like electrical wires.Copper is a good conductor of electricity so it is ideal for drawing out into electrical wires. It's hard and strong but can be bent. It doesn't react with water. Aluminium is crrosion resistant and has a low density. Pure aluminium isn't particularly strong but it forms hard, strong alloys. Titanium is another low density metal. Unlike Aluminium it's very strong and is also corrosion resistant. Different metals are used for different uses because of their specific properties.

Metals are very useful structural materials, but some corrode when exposed to air and water, so they need to be protected e,g by painting. If metal corrodes they lose their strength and hardness. Metals can get tired when stresses and strains are repeatedly put on them over time. This is known as metal fatigue and leads to metals breaking which can be very dangerous on things like planes.