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Rare metals and rare earths
Rare earths of a lanthanum subset, or lanthanides, are applied in production of permanent magnets, in iron and steel industry and non-ferrous metallurgy, in nuclear, electronic, chemical and other industries. |
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Non-metals
Non-metals are chemical elements that form simple elements with no
metal-specific qualities. Non-metals typically include 22 elements: gases - hydrogen,
nitrogen,
oxygen, fluor, chlorine and inert gases; liquids - bromine; solids - boron, carbon,
silicon, phosphorus,
arsenic, sulphur,
selenium, tellurium, iodine, astatine. |
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Nickel
Nickel is used in production of non-corroding and other alloyed steels (about 70% of consumption), alloys (14%), accumulators, in chemical industry and powder metallurgy, also as an anti-corrosion coating (nickeling) and a catalyst for many chemical processes.
Copper
Copper of all non-ferrous metals was most widely applied in the earliest times. Copper alloys are called bronzes and are known to the mankind since prehistoric times, as they were the only metal to make weapons and instruments of labour (the Bronze Age). Copper is easy to distinguish from other metals in appearance, as it has a specific reddish-pink colour.
Aluminium
Aluminium, a most wide-spread metal on the Earth, was discovered in 1825. In the air it acquires a specific thin white matt layer with strong anticorrosive qualities. Aluminium dissolves readily in caustic lyes and diluted hydrochloric and sulphuric acids. It does not normally react with aquafortis and organic acids.
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