The Iron Age mineral
Safety pins and skyscrapers, scissors and steamships, automobiles and
airplanes—none of these things could be made without the mineral
called iron.
Iron is a metal, like copper and tin and bronze. But iron is much harder
and tougher. It is the best kind of metal for making tools and things
that need lots of strength.
There is iron almost everywhere in the earth’s crust, but it is almost
always locked inside other minerals. Minerals that contain iron are
called iron ores. When these ores are heated, the iron flows out as a
thick liquid. When the iron cools, it is a hard, dull-looking black
metal.
Iron has always been an important metal since people first began using
it, about four thousand years ago. It made better, longer-lasting tools
and weapons than either stone or bronze. The use of iron brought the
Bronze Age to an end. When people began making things out of iron, it
was the start of the Iron Age.
Many things, such as fire hydrants, fancy fences, and parts of
automobile engines are still made from iron. But much of the iron now
taken from the earth is mixed with other materials to make an even
harder, tougher metal called steel.
People have known for a long time how to make steel, but it was always
very expensive. It was only a little more than a hundred years ago that
we learned how to make lots of steel cheaply. So many things are now
made out of steel—such as safety pins, scissors, skyscrapers, and
automobiles—that it is sometimes said that we live in the Steel Age.
Japanese iron helmet and face mask
This mask and helmet were part of the armor of a Japanese warrior two
hundred years ago.iron ore (hematite)
