_--Iron, in its pure state, is a soft, white, easily worked
metal. It is the most important of all the metallic elements, and is, next
to aluminum, the commonest metal found in the earth.
Mechanically speaking, we have three kinds of iron: wrought iron, cast iron
and steel. Wrought iron is very nearly pure iron; cast iron contains carbon
and silicon, also chemical impurities; and steel contains a definite
proportion of carbon, but in smaller quantities than cast iron.
Pure iron is never obtained commercially, the metal always being mixed with
various proportions of carbon, silicon, sulphur, phosphorus, and other
elements, making it more or less suitable for different purposes. Iron is
magnetic to the extent that it is attracted by magnets, but it does not
retain magnetism itself, as does steel. Iron forms, with other elements,
many important combinations, such as its alloys, oxides, and sulphates.
[Illustration: Figure 1.--Section Through a Blast Furnace]
_Cast Iron._--Metallic iron is separated from iron ore in the blast
furnace (Figure 1), and when allowed to run into moulds is called cast
iron. This form is used for engine cylinders and pistons, for brackets,
covers, housings and at any point where its brittleness is not
objectionable. Good cast iron breaks with a gray fracture, is free from
blowholes or roughness, and is easily machined, drilled, etc. Cast iron is
slightly lighter than steel, melts at about 2,400 degrees in practice, is
about one-eighth as good an electrical conductor as copper and has a
tensile strength of 13,000 to 30,000 pounds per square inch.
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