Chemical Elements | Iron

Overview

The period in human history beginning in about 1200 B.C. is called the Iron Age. It was at about this time that humans first learned how to use iron metal. But in some ways, one could refer to the current era as the New Iron Age. Iron is probably the most widely used and most important metal today. No other metal is available to replace iron in all its many applications.

Iron is a transition metal. The transition metals are the elements that make up Groups 3 through 12 in the periodic table. The periodic table is a chart that shows how elements are related to one another. The transition metals are typical metals in that they tend to be bright, shiny, silvery solids. They all tend to conduct heat and electricity well. And they usually have high melting points.