1.1 KiB
Steel
Formula
Alloy metal with Iron: Fe
Pyrotechnics use
Yellow sparkle effect
Synonyms
Alloy steel, galvanized steel, carbon steel, and sometimes wrought iron (a mild steel).
Description
Steel is a solid grayish-brown alloy of iron with either carbon, manganese, tungsten, or vanadium. These additional substances harden the iron through smelting and combining, but they also make the final product (steel) more brittle. Most steel contains a very large list of trace elements, with most having contents under 1 percent. Sulfur is a common trace element, so steel may be dangerous in extremely sulfur sensitive compounds. Steel is the most common metal used in modern industrial building, but there are stronger, lighter, but more expensive alternatives. Due to the main element in steel being iron, steel retains a strong ferromagnetic property.
Sources
Hazards
Steel is not particularly dangerous, even in the powdered form. Ingestion of steel powder is dangerous, but supposedly not fatal. Steel is inflammable without an external oxidizer, but it does propose a dust explosion hazard if floating in the air.