Copper Alloys

The first important alloy was bronze, whose name is associated with an important era in history—the Bronze Age. Metalworkers in Thailand may have been the first to make bronze. But people in other locations probably thought they were the first to make bronze. News didn't travel quickly in that era.

Metalworkers might have noticed that the metal they extracted by heating deposits of copper was not always the same. The difference in properties could be traced to the presence of tin. In its simplest form, bronze contains only copper and tin, which are relatively soft metals. Mixed together in bronze, the metals are much harder and stronger than either metal alone. Scientists can design alloys with specific properties by varying the types and amounts of elements in an alloy.