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Facts About Iron

Facts About Iron

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From being a crucial building block of steel to nourishing plants and helping carry oxygen in your blood — iron is always busy helping sustain life on Earth.
Iron is a brittle, hard substance, classified as a metal in Group 8 on the Periodic Table of the Elements. The most abundant of all metals, its pure form rapidly corrodes from exposure to moist air and high temperatures. Iron is also the fourth most common element in Earth's crust by weight and much of Earth's core is thought to be composed of iron. Besides being commonly found on Earth, it is abundant in the sun and stars, according to the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Iron is crucial to the survival of living organisms, according to Jefferson Lab. In plants, it plays a role in the production of chlorophyll. In animals, it is a component of hemoglobin — a protein in blood that carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues in the body.
Ninety percent of all metal that is refined these days is iron, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. Most of it is used to make steel — an alloy of iron and carbon — which is in turn used in manufacturing and civil engineering, for instance, to make reinforced concrete. Stainless steel, which contains at least 10.5 percent chromium, is highly resistant to corrosion. It is used in kitchen cutlery, appliances and cookware such as stainless steel pans and skillets. The addition of other elements can provide steel with other useful qualities. For instance, nickel increases its durability and makes it more resistant to heat and acids; manganese makes it more durable, whereas tungsten helps it maintain hardness at high temperatures, according to Jefferson Lab.

Just the facts

  • Atomic number (number of protons in the nucleus): 26
  • Atomic symbol (on the Periodic Table of Elements): Fe
  • Atomic weight (average mass of the atom): 55.845
  • Density: 7.874 grams per cubic centimeter
  • Phase at room temperature: Solid
  • Melting point: 2,800.4 degrees Fahrenheit (1,538 degrees Celsius)
  • Boiling point: 5,181.8 F (2,861 C)
  • Number of isotopes (atoms of the same element with a different number of neutrons): (include how many are stable isotopes): 33 Stable isotopes: 4
  • Most common isotopes: Iron-56 (natural abundance: 91.754 percent)



Who knew?

  • Blood is red because of the interaction between iron and oxygen, according to the University of California, Santa Barbara. The blood looks red because of the way in which the chemical bonds between the two elements reflect light.
  • Pure iron is actually soft and malleable, according to the University of Denver.
  • In 2007, researchers discovered a huge plume of iron-rich water emanating from hydrothermal vents in the southern Atlantic Ocean.
  • Iron is necessary for the growth of phytoplankton — tiny marine bacteria that use carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to fuel photosynthesis. Some researchers have therefore argued that fertilizing the oceans with extra iron could help suck up excess carbon dioxide. But a study published online in November 2010 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that this might not be such a good idea, as all this extra iron could actually trigger the growth of toxin-producing algae that contribute to the contamination of marine wildlife.
  • About 90 percent of all metal that is refined today is iron, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry.
  • Iron is a crucial component of a meteorite class known as siderites, according to Los Alamos National Laboratory. 
  • An iron pillar dating to about A.D. 400 still stands today in Delhi, India, according to Los Alamos National Laboratory. The pillar is about 23.75 feet (7.25 meters) high and measures 15.75 inches (40 centimeters) in diameter. Despite being exposed to weather conditions, the pillar has not corroded much due to its unique composition of metals.
  • Examples of iron-rich foods include meat, such as beef, turkey, chicken and pork; seafood, such as shrimp, clams, oysters and tuna; vegetables, such as spinach, peas, broccoli, sweet potatoes and string beans; bread and cereals, such as bran cereals, whole wheat bread and enriched rice; other foods, such as beans, lentils, tomato paste, tofu and molasses, according to the American Red Cross.
  • The surface of Mars is red due to a large amount of iron oxide (rust) on its surface, according to Nature. Mars has more than twice as much iron oxide in its crust than Earth.
  • Earth's solid inner and liquid outer cores are primarily composed of iron (approximately 85 percent and 80 percent by weight, respectively). The electric current generated by the liquid iron creates the magnetic field protecting Earth, according to NASA. Iron is also found in the cores of all of the planets in the Solar System.
  • Iron is the heaviest element formed in the cores of stars, according to JPL. Elements heavier than iron can only be created when high mass stars explode (supernovae).
  • The Latin name for iron is ferrum, which is the source of its atomic symbol, Fe. 
  • The word iron is from an Anglo-Saxon word, iren. The word iron is possibly derived from earlier words meaning "holy metal" because it was used to make the swords used in the Crusades, according to WebElements.

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