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Zinc is a bluish-white, lustrous metal. It is brittle at ambient temperatures but is malleable at 100 to 150°C. It is a reasonable conductor of electricity
The metal is employed to form numerous alloys with other metals. Brass, nickel silver, type metal, commercial bronze, spring bronze, German silver, soft solder, and aluminium solder are some of the more important alloys. Large quantities of zinc are used to produce die castings, which are used extensively by the automotive, electrical, and hardware industries.
A large proportion of all zinc, perhaps more than a third, is used used to galvanize metals such as iron so as to prevent corrosion. Typically this involves dipping the object to be coated in molten zinc for a short time but electroplating or paining methods are also used. Please see our page on Zinc repair sticks.
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