It was only when metallurgists added over 5% that they discovered that chromium prevented iron from rusting. Up to the early 20th century, chromium had only been added to iron in quantities of less than 5%. Chromium had only been isolated as a material about 50 years previously. During the Iron Age, which ended about 500 years BCE, iron was alloyed with carbon to make steel, and it was first alloyed with nickel thousands of years previously.įast forward several millennia to the mid-1800s, and metallurgists discovered that adding chromium to iron made it more durable and formable for making tools, implements, and other items. One of these ways is by alloying iron with other metals, which humans have been doing and continuously improving on for thousands of years. Since there are very few environments that don't contain some water and oxygen, iron will generally always rust unless measures are taken to protect it. This substance is technically made up of one or more formulations of iron oxide (iron, oxygen, and hydrogen atoms). This happens when the iron reacts chemically with water and oxygen, and it does this spontaneously because of these materials' chemical structures.Īs long as iron, water, and oxygen are present, the rusting will continue until all the iron is consumed and become the flaky or powdery bright orange substance with which we're all familiar. Iron is the largest component of stainless steels, but everyone has seen that it only takes water or damp air to make it rust and break down.

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