eli5, what makes steel so strong?
In: 7
Iron, like most metals, forms a regular crystal structure. The structure it happens to form allows the atoms to slide past one another relatively easily. When carbon atoms dissolve into the structure of the iron, they block the atoms from easily sliding, which makes the material harder to stretch or pull apart. You can think of them almost like a bunch of little velcro clips within the crystal structure, “hooking” onto iron atoms and preventing them from moving within it.
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