Difference between Metal and Alloy

Hi there,

I think you might find better and more accurate information if you do a search on the internet. On this forum we are more electrical, instrumentation and control orientated.

I will give you the information I have about it, but it might not be accurate and it is just the way I have it, so rather do a search on it and read what some mechanical expert have to say about it.

As far as I know a metal is a pure product like ion, sink, copper, gold ext and a alloy is a mixture of metals smelted together in order to create a type of metal not found in a natural state.
 
S
A metal is something you can find on a periodic table, iron, copper or tin, for example. An alloy is a mixture of two or more metals, brass or bronze for example.
 
True metals are pure elements, whereas alloys are melted mixtures of two or more metals. Metals and alloys are easily distinguished from nonmetals because they are shinier, heavier, and harder than other materials, and they are good heat and electrical conductors.
 
Metals are defined by their characteristics (high electrical conductivity, high thermal conductivity, high luster, maleability, etc). Pure substances that have these characteristics (copper, gold, silver, aluminum, tin, lead) are metals. However, non-pure substances that have these characteristics are also metals. Alloys are mixtures of substances that have these characteristics, so alloys are also metals. It also makes alloys a subset of the set of all metals. Most of the time alloys are a mixture of two or more pure substances that are metals. For example, nitinol is a mixture of nickel and titanium. However, alloys can intentionally include substances which are not metals. For example, high carbon steel includes a small amount of carbon which is not a metal. Substances which are metals must include at least one of the pure substances from the periodic table which is a metal otherwise the substance will not have the required characteristics that define metals.
 
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