Iron processing Definition, History, Steps, Uses, Facts - Britannica

OverviewHistoryiron processing, use of a smelting process to turn the ore into a form from which products can bIron (Fe) is a relatively dense metal with a silvery white appearance and distinctive magnetic properties. It constitutes 5 percent by weight of the Earth’s crust, and it is the fourth most abundant element after oxygen, silicon, and aluminum. It melts at a temperature of 1,538° C (2,Iron is allotropic—that is, it exists in different forms. Its crystal structure is either body-centred cThe pure metal is malleable and can be easily shaped by hammering, but apart from specialized electrical applications it is rarely used without adding other elements to improve its properties. Mostly it appears in iron-carbon alloys such as steels, which contain between 0.003 and about 在britannica上