eli5: if steel is made by mixing carbon and iron at high temp, what happens when you add carbon to other metals like brass, copper or gold? does it make “brass steel”?

Question

eli5: if steel is made by mixing carbon and iron at high temp, what happens when you add carbon to other metals like brass, copper or gold? does it make “brass steel”?

In: 276

Answer 1

generally, you get metal carbides. usually quite hard but brittle materials with fantastic heat resistance.

there are exceptions. IIRC a pure copper-carbon compound is a novel explosive.