Discovery date : approx 3500BC
Discovered by: -
Origin of the name: The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon name 'iren'.
Allotropes :
~>IRON is a chemical element with symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is by mass the most common element on Earth, forming much of the outer and inner core of Earth.
| FACT BOX | |||
| Group | 8 | Melting point | 1538°C, 2800°F, 1811 K |
| Period | 4 | Boiling point | 2861°C, 5182°F, 3134 K |
| Block | d | Density (g cm−3) | 7.87 |
| Atomic number | 26 | Relative atomic mass | 55.845 |
| State at 20°C | Solid | Key isotopes | 56Fe |
| Electron configuration | [Ar] 3d64s2 | CAS number | 7439-89-6 |
| ChemSpider ID | 22368 | ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database | |
Iron objects have been found in Egypt dating from around 3500 BC. They contain about 7.5% nickel, which indicates that they were of meteoric origin.
The ancient Hittites of Asia Minor, today’s Turkey, were the first to smelt iron from its ores around 1500 BC and this new, stronger, metal gave them economic and political power. The Iron Age had begun. Some kinds of iron were clearly superior to others depending on its carbon content, although this was not appreciated. Some iron ore contained vanadium producing so-called Damascene steel, ideal for swords.
The first person to explain the various types of iron was René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur who wrote a book on the subject in 1722. This explained how steel, wrought iron, and cast iron, were to be distinguished by the amount of charcoal (carbon) they contained. The Industrial Revolution which began that same century relied extensively on this metal.