Properties and uses of nonferrous metals

Nonferrous metals, like iron and steel, also find wide applications in engineering, especially the alloys. Among the most widely used are : copper, aluminum, lead, tin, zinc, nickel, and magnesium.

Copper is a metal of red colour, ductile at ordinary temperatures, and melting at 1083o C. pure copper is an excellent conductor of electric current and is therefore the main material with which the electrical fitter has to deal. Soft copper is the material from which cables, conductors and winding (magnet) wires are manufactured. In air, copper become coated with a thin film of oxide.

Aluminum is one of the light metals finding application in industry. Pure aluminum is silvery white in colour, has a mellting point of 658oC, is easily worked, and in the resistant to a wide number of chemicals. In air, the surface of aluminum oxidizes to form a film which protects the aluminum from further attack.

Aluminum serves as a material for manufacture of soil and strand wires, capacitors, switchgear bus bar, cable sheaths and conductors, and many light-weight castings. A major disadvantage of aluminum is the difficulty with which it is soldered.

Lead is a soft ductile metal of bluish-grey colour with a melting point of 327oC. in damp air, lead becomes coated with a film of oxide. It is used to make protective sheaths for cable, linings foe acid-holding tanks and vats, and is used for manufacturing low-melting-point and bearing alloys.

Tin is the soft silver-white coloured metal with a melting point of 232oC. resists the attack of the air and weak solution of acids and bases. It is one of the components of bronzes, low-melting-point and breaking alloys, and solders, etc. a thin coating of tin reliability protects many metals from surface oxidation.

Zinc is a bluish-white metal with a melting point of 420oCC. brittle at low temperatures. In damp air, zinc becomes coated with a film of oxide which protects it against further attack.