General characteristics of brass and bronze, their composition and differences
Brass and bronze are two alloys that are widely used in industry and household applications. Outwardly, they are quite similar, but have fundamentally different properties and chemical composition. The only thing they have in common is the presence of copper as the main component in the alloy. It is quite difficult for a person far from industry to distinguish between objects made of bronze and brass by eye, so information about the characteristics of these alloys will not be superfluous.
General characteristics of bronze
Bronze has been used in various fields for a long time. Previously, the alloy was obtained exclusively from copper and tin. It was also called bell, because. It was from this material that bells were previously made. However, with the development of metallurgy, they began to produce metal in which tin was replaced with other components. This is where the names of the alloys came from:
- aluminum:
- silicic;
- tin, etc.
What does bronze look like?
The chemical composition of bronze used affects not only its characteristics, but also the final color of the metal.
Characteristics of brass
Brass is a double or multi-component copper-based alloy. It contains zinc as a component. Sometimes the alloy is supplemented with nickel, lead, manganese, etc. In the 19th century, brass alloy was used as counterfeit gold because of the metal's distinctive color. Jewelry and other household items were made from it.
Today, brass is used to obtain the steel-brass material. It is resistant to corrosion, does not wear out and is quite plastic, despite its strength and hardness.
Comparative characteristics and differences between metals
In the metallurgical industry, there are clear criteria for distinguishing between bronze and brass. However, if a person is not associated with this field of activity, he will not be able to determine by eye what material is in front of him. Combining copper with tin or zinc produces alloys that have different properties and are used in specific areas.
Bronze and brass have different properties and belong to completely different categories. The first alloy can be tin or tin-free, while the second can be two- or multi-component.
Bronze alloy consists of tin to which lead may be added. The color of the metal will depend on the percentage of one element or another. The main additive element in brass is zinc.
Bronze is resistant to chemical and aggressive compounds. In addition, its negative reaction to salty sea water made it possible to use the alloy in shipbuilding and navigation. Brass cannot boast of this, so to give it improved qualities, additional elements must be introduced into the alloy. In addition, bronze has better strength and anti-friction characteristics than brass. This allows you to significantly expand the scope of application of the alloy.
The high zinc content in brass gives the alloy a variety of colors from pink-red to golden yellow. This is what makes it similar to noble gold.
What does brass look like?
The silvery-white color of bronze is achieved by adding more than 35% Sn to its composition. An alloy containing at least 85% copper is brownish-red in color.
Since compounds with high levels of impurities are rare, it can be argued that basically brass is a metal of golden yellow color, and bronze is closer to red, sometimes dark brown.
The same colors of brass and bronze will appear on the broken objects. This allows you to easily distinguish brass products from bronze ones.
From a metal such as brass, not only decorative elements are made, such as furniture fittings or artistic objects for interior decoration, but also main parts used in various industrial fields.
Bronze and brass have a lower melting point than pure copper. This makes it possible to make various products from them for home use. Artistic casting made of bronze and brass looks very beautiful. However, for this you need to have the appropriate equipment and know the technology and rules for performing such a procedure.
Nuances of spectral comparative analysis
Due to the variety of copper-based alloys, it is difficult to accurately determine the type of their connection. Any of the methods to distinguish brass and bronze, even the most effective, does not provide a 100% guarantee. If you need an accurate answer to the question of what kind of alloy it is, then the only way to a reliable answer is to use spectral analysis. You can contact a scrap metal collection point, which may have the appropriate equipment.
Spectral analysis allows you to determine the chemical composition of a metal alloy based on its spectrum. In addition, this method has other advantages:
- high sensitivity;
- accuracy of results;
- studying the composition of brass and bronze products without destroying their structure;
- you can study the composition even on a small sample.
To carry out spectral analysis, a special tool is used - a steeloscope. It is designed for rapid visual qualitative and quantitative assessment of ferrous and non-ferrous alloys in the visible region of the spectrum.
Methods for distinguishing brass from bronze at home
Very often, when old metal products are found or purchased, at first glance it is not clear what kind of alloy they are made of. Visually, objects made of brass and bronze are very similar. However, there are several proven methods that will help determine a particular alloy at home.
Heat treatment
Some metals are very sensitive to high temperatures. For example, for zinc 600-650 degrees will become critical. After such exposure it will oxidize. Knowing this, you can distinguish brass from bronze using a burner flame.
- If bronze is heated to the specified temperature, it will quickly become hot, but its color and mechanical characteristics will remain the same. If you try to bend a heated bronze object, it may break.
- Brass, which contains zinc, will react to high temperatures somewhat differently. Oxidation of zinc will cause an ashy coating on the surface of the product. In addition, after heat treatment at 600 degrees, the brass will become plastic, and the alloy sample will not break when bent, but simply bend.
You can distinguish brass from bronze using heat treatment
To use this testing method, you will need to find a powerful burner, because... A regular stove burner or fire flame will not work.
Chemical methods
Exposure of the alloy to chemical reagents is a fairly reliable way to distinguish bronze from brass. However, to carry it out you need to have special equipment, nitric acid and some experience in working with such substances.
The first thing to do is prepare some metal shavings. After this, it is placed in separate test tubes and filled with a 50% nitric acid solution. When most of the metal elements have dissolved, the test tubes are heated. If the alloy is brass, the liquid will remain transparent, but if it is bronze, a white tin precipitate will appear.
In the absence of chemical reagents, you can use a solution of sea salt. When you place brass shavings in it, they will change their appearance, but the bronze shavings will remain the same as they were.
Using a magnet
Not all metals react equally to a magnet. Some stick to it thoroughly, some just rise slightly, and there are others who remain indifferent to it. Tin and lead, which are part of bronze, can be attracted by a magnet. The only thing is that for such a test you will need a fairly strong magnet. Bronze products, after exposure, will slightly stick to the surface. The magnet will not have any effect on brass.
Source: https://1nerudnyi.ru/latun-i-bronza-01/
How to determine bronze at home - Metals, equipment, instructions
There are a number of ways that will tell you how to distinguish bronze from brass. In the presented material I would like to consider the simplest and most accessible solutions for implementing this task. Let's find out how to distinguish bronze from brass at home.
What is bronze?
Before we figure out how to distinguish bronze from brass, let's find out what each alloy is. Let's start with bronze. So, bronze is an alloy of tin and copper, with admixtures of silicon, aluminum, beryllium and lead. It is the quality of the tin used that largely determines the nature of the future alloy.
There is a special type of bronze, in the manufacture of which tin is replaced with nickel or zinc. This alloy is known as spiatr. Essentially, the material is a cheap version of bronze, which is not of the best quality.
According to the above manufacturing principles, bronze is divided into tin and tin-free. At the beginning of the last century, metallurgists produced arsenic bronze. However, due to its high toxicity, the material was never widely used.
What is brass?
Brass is practically the same alloy as bronze. But instead of the alloying composition in the form of tin, zinc is used here in combination with copper. Sometimes lead, iron, nickel, manganese, and other elements are added to the alloy.
The ancient Romans knew how to produce brass. They were the first to learn how to combine molten copper with zinc ore. Pure zinc began to be used for the production of brass only at the end of the 18th century in Britain. The British often used the alloy to create fake gold, because brass, like a noble metal, has an attractive sunny shine.
Today the material is widely used to create the so-called bimetal - an alloy where steel is combined with brass. This solution contributes to the production of metal that is resistant to corrosion and abrasion. At the same time, bimetal products have good ductility.
Defining Differences Between Bronze and Brass
How to distinguish bronze from brass? The difference between the presented alloys is as follows:
- Brass is produced by combining zinc with copper. In turn, bronze is produced by alloying copper with tin.
- Bronze can be in contact with sea and salt water for a long time without destroying the structure of the material. Brass requires additional processing in the form of alloying.
- Bronze has increased resistance to mechanical wear and is a durable material. For this reason, the alloy is widely used to create all kinds of sculptures and monuments. Brass is not suitable for these purposes, although it is used as elements of artistic products.
- How to distinguish copper from brass and bronze? Copper has a reddish tint. At the same time, bronze has a dark brown color and a coarse-grained structure. Brass has a yellow tint and is a fine-grained material.
Differences between bronze and brass according to weight
How to distinguish bronze from brass based on the weight of the materials? It is worth noting that bronze is a fairly heavy alloy. In equal volumes of workpieces, bronze will be clearly heavier than brass. Therefore, you can distinguish products from individual alloys by weighing them on your palms.
How to distinguish alloys by heating?
You need to try to distinguish between materials using the thermal effect method. However, the results in this case will be more reliable.
What do we have to do? It is necessary to heat both alloys using a gas burner to a temperature of more than 600°C.
With this exposure, an ashen-colored coating forms on the surface of the brass product, which is zinc oxide. At the same time, the bronze will remain in its original form.
After heating, the brass will become more ductile. Bronze does not change its physical properties when exposed to high temperatures. If you try to bend a brass workpiece, the structure of the latter will not be damaged. As for bronze, it will definitely break at the bend.
How to distinguish brass from bronze with a magnet?
As noted above, bronze contains tin and lead. These materials can be attracted by a magnet. The only thing required to carry out the experiment is to find a fairly strong magnet. When using it, the bronze will slightly stick to the surface. The magnet will not have any effect on brass.
Finally
As you can see, there are a number of ways that allow you to distinguish bronze from brass at home. In most cases, there are pronounced visual differences between products made from these alloys. Therefore, to cope with the task, sometimes it is enough just to carefully consider both materials.
Source: https://spb-metalloobrabotka.com/kak-opredelit-bronzu-v-domashnih-usloviyah/
How to distinguish between brass and bronze - proven methods
Anyone who searches for and sells non-ferrous metal sometimes has doubts about the type of scrap and, accordingly, its true value upon delivery.
Copper is a non-ferrous metal, and brass is an alloy that is typically 70% copper, so it often resembles it.
A mistake can be quite costly. For copper at collection points they give 285-300 rubles, for brass - about 150 . There are many ways to find out what kind of metal we see - copper or brass, and we will tell you how to distinguish them from each other in this article.
What is copper and brass
Copper is a non-ferrous metal. Its color is reddish-pink, it is pliable when working, soft and malleable. It has high thermal and electrical conductivity, so copper is often used to produce:
- parts of electrical appliances;
- cables;
- radiators.
Copper is not hardened because it becomes hard even after cold forging. It tends to become covered with patina - a green coating that occurs when the ambient humidity is high.
To increase strength, improve a number of other indicators and reduce the cost of the material, impurities are added and an alloy is obtained.
One such alloy is brass .
In the classic version it contains a third of zinc.
Brass is golden yellow, stronger and harder. It does not oxidize so intensively , and is not so plastic.
Sometimes, depending on the purpose of the alloy, they add:
- tin;
- silicon;
- lead;
- manganese.
Similarities and differences
Brass alloy consists mostly of copper, so it is natural that they are similar not only visually, but also in some properties. The more copper in the alloy, the more similar their colors will be. This is where the exact coincidences end.
Visually, less than 80% copper are easily distinguished . They are slightly similar to gold, as they have a pronounced yellow tint. The more zinc, the lighter the shade.
Because of this, brass is even used to counterfeit or imitate gold . Copper has a main shade of reddish, which often has a pink tint.
With a strong decrease in temperature, brass does not lose its relatively limited ductility and does not become brittle . Conducts electricity and heat worse.
They differ in such a way as hardness .
Copper is softer and more ductile , while brass, on the contrary, is hard and it is difficult to give it any shape without annealing.
The shavings are also different: for brass they are needle- shaped , for copper they are twisted into a spiral .
Let's look at the properties that brass and copper have and whether they have any differences:
| Copper | Brass |
| Plastic, soft | Solid |
| Reddish-brown-pink tint | Golden tone |
| Lower sound on impact | Alt |
| Heavy | Easier |
| The shavings are twisted into a spiral | Needle shavings |
How to tell the difference?
Most often you can distinguish by:
- mind;
- weight;
- degree of hardness
without the use of any tools or equipment.
But there are situations when, for accuracy, it is necessary to use :
- reagents,
- tools,
- devices.
Before assessing the scrap that you are going to take to the collection point, you need to clean it of dirt, otherwise you won’t be able to accurately determine it by eye.
By color
Both metals, although to varying degrees, can develop a patina .
Therefore, do not forget to clean the scrap well.
If an object has been in the open air or in water for a long time, the patina layer is difficult to remove.
Sometimes it will be justified to purchase a special cleaning product .
It is advisable to inspect the scrap under a powerful white light.
This implies that one can view either under the sun on a fine day or under a bright fluorescent lamp . Incandescent lamp is not suitable.
Pure copper will have a reddish-brown tint, sometimes with a pink tint. Keep in mind that brass can be red or orange. This type is commonly used for decorations and water pipes.
If the material has an orange, yellow or golden tint, you can be almost sure that it is brass.
Source: https://superfb.site/other/obrazovanie/nauka-obrazovanie/kak-razlichat-latun-i-bronzu-8212-proverennye-sposoby.html
What is the difference between brass and bronze
Among the oldest alloys known to people, brass and bronze rank first: the differences between them are significant, but their use is in many ways similar. It is worth mentioning that ancient copper-containing alloys are not similar in color and composition to modern ones.
Made of bronze from the middle of the 4th century BC. e. they forged weapons and armor, made dishes, household utensils, created jewelry, minted coins and sculpted sculptures. In Ancient Rome, brass coins (sestertii and dupondii) were in circulation; parts of armor, elements for decorating armor, weapons, and dishes were made from orichalcum (as the Romans called this alloy). That is why it is not always easy to understand what alloy an antique item is made of, and how to distinguish bronze from brass.
Color differences between metals
Composition and features of alloys
When talking about antique bronze products, they usually mean an alloy based on copper and tin, less often we talk about spiater (copper + zinc and nickel), which was used as an inexpensive analogue of bronze in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. In modern industrial alloys, the alloying metal can be another metal, thus bronze is divided into tin and tin-free (aluminum, beryllium, silicon-zinc, lead, etc.).
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, sometimes with the addition of tin, nickel, manganese, lead, and iron. Since the end of the 7th century, for the manufacture of artistic products, jewelry, accessories and insignia, a type of brass called “tompak” has been used: it contains 88-97% copper and 10-30% zinc.
Brass handle
How to distinguish them at home?
The easiest way to identify bronze is by its appearance: its surface has a reddish or dark brown tint and a coarse-grained structure; brass is yellowish and fine-grained in structure. However, bronze with a high tin content takes on a yellowish or almost white color, so it can easily be confused with brass, copel (copper + nickel + manganese) and cupronickel (copper + nickel).
Bronze is heavier than brass, but an inexperienced person can only compare the weights if he has two objects of a certain size, one of which is known to be bronze and the other brass.
You can test the metal for bending: when strongly bent, brass bends or retains its shape, but a bronze product breaks.
- Scrape the surface with a hacksaw and the bronze will yield fine, loose shavings. This method does not always work in relation to technical alloys, since there are “loose” grades of industrial brass and “sticky” grades of bronze.
- Heat the metal to 600 °C (the same temperature as a gasoline burner), and a dark film of zinc oxide will appear on the brass. It will not be on the surface of the bronze.
- When heated, brass begins to bend, but the characteristics of bronze do not change. If it is possible to melt a piece of the sample, then when overheated, the brass burns with a white flame, scattering white flakes - this burns out the zinc.
Bronze figurine
The most reliable answer to the question of how to distinguish brass from bronze is provided by exposure to reagents. Place a few shavings of each alloy in different beakers and pour in dilute nitric acid (1 part acid to 1 part water) and wait until most of them have dissolved. Heat the beaker, but do not bring it to a boil, and keep it on low heat for half an hour. The liquid in the container with brass shavings will remain transparent, and in the test tube with bronze shavings a white tin precipitate will appear.
Source: https://vi-pole.ru/v-chem-otlichie-latuni-ot-bronzy.html
Difference Between Bronze and Phosphor Bronze
The main difference between Bronze and Phosphor Bronze is that Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin , whereas Phosphor Bronze is a variety of bronze that has phosphorus added as an additional component .
Bronze is an alloy with a wide range of uses. Phosphor bronze is a type of bronze that has more sought-after properties such as high strength and wear resistance due to the presence of phosphorus and tin.
- Overview and main differences
- What is Bronze
- What is Phosphor Bronze
- What do Bronze and Phosphor Bronze have in common?
- What is the difference between Bronze and Phosphor Bronze
- Conclusion
What is Bronze?
Bronze is an alloy that consists of copper and tin. Sometimes manufacturers mix some other elements with copper to create bronze. Such elements include arsenic, phosphorus, aluminum, manganese and silicon.
In appearance, bronze usually has a dull golden color. Its melting point depends on the amount of tin present. In addition, there are three main types of bronze in terms of composition: phosphorus bronze, beryl bronze and aluminum bronze.
In terms of properties, bronze has high ductility (can be drawn into thin wire) and has a low coefficient of friction. It is also used in boat and marine fittings due to its resistance to salt water corrosion. Bronze is widely used in sculptures, mirrors, reflectors, springs, etc.
What is Phosphor Bronze?
Phosphor bronze or phosphor bronze is an alloy of copper, tin and phosphorus. It is a tough and solid form of bronze containing small amounts of phosphorus. In addition, this type of bronze is used specifically for bearings.
Phosphor bronze
Phosphor bronze has a reddish-brown color. In terms of properties, it has significantly high fluidity and castability in the molten phase. In addition, tin in its composition increases corrosion resistance, as well as its strength.
Phosphor bronze has various applications due to its strength, durability, low friction coefficient, etc. This material can be found on sale in the form of wires, pipes, rods, plates and sheets.
What do Bronze and Phosphor Bronze have in common?
The general properties of Bronze are high ductility, less brittleness, high corrosion resistance, better conductivity of heat and electricity, while the general properties of Phosphor Bronze include high corrosion resistance, high strength, durability and low wear rate.
Additionally, another difference between Bronze and Phosphor Bronze is their appearance. Bronze usually has a dull golden color, while Phosphor Bronze has a reddish-brown color.
What is the difference between bronze and phosphor bronze?
There are different types of bronze depending on their chemical composition. Bronze consists of copper and tin, as well as some trace elements. Phosphor bronze is a type of bronze that contains phosphorus as a trace element in addition to copper and tin.
Therefore, the key difference between Bronze and Phosphor Bronze is that Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, whereas Phosphor Bronze is a type of Bronze in which phosphorus is added as an additional component.
Thus, Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. There are also different types of Bronze depending on the chemical composition. Phosphor bronze is one such type. The main difference between Bronze and Phosphor Bronze is that Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, whereas Phosphor Bronze is a variety of Bronze that contains phosphorus as an additional component.
Source: https://raznisa.ru/raznica-mezhdu-bronzoj-i-fosforistoj-bronzoj/
What is the difference between bronze and brass in appearance?
There are a number of ways that will tell you how to distinguish bronze from brass. In the presented material I would like to consider the simplest and most accessible solutions for implementing this task. Let's find out how to distinguish bronze from brass at home.
Difference between copper and bronze
Brass and bronze are metal alloys. A metal alloy can be defined as a mixture of metals or a mixture of a metal with another element. A metal alloy is different from an alloy metal because of its properties. A metal alloy is made to produce desirable properties, whereas metals with impurities are not. The main difference between brass and bronze is that brass is composed of copper and zinc while bronze is composed of copper and tin metals.
Key areas covered
1. What is Brass
– Definition, Properties, Uses
2. What is Bronze
– Definition, Properties, Uses
3. What is the Difference Between Copper and Bronze
– Key Differences Comparison
key Terms: alpha brass, aluminum brass, aluminum bronze, brass, beta brass, bronze, lead brass, metal alloy, phosphor bronze
What is brass
Brass is a metal alloy containing a mixture of copper and zinc. But sometimes it may contain some other metals. The percentage of mixing the two metals depends on the final product that will be produced. Depending on the composition of each metal, several types of brass can be observed. Some of them
- Alpha brass - contains less than 35% zinc
- Aluminum Brass - Contains aluminum for better corrosion resistance
- Beta brass - contains about 50% zinc
- Leaded Brass - Lead metal included.
Brass has a bright golden appearance with better malleability. Compliance is the ability of a substance to deform under pressure. It has a relatively low melting point and is a good conductor of heat. Brass is resistant to corrosion.
Aluminum (Al) is sometimes added to improve the corrosion resistance of brass. Although the color of brass is usually bright gold, the color can vary depending on the amount of metals added. Increasing the amount of zinc provides better strength to the brass.
Brass is mainly used for decorative purposes due to its golden color. It is used to make musical instruments due to its high strength. Brass exhibits low friction, thus is used in low friction applications such as locks.
Figure 1: Copper Tools
Definition
Brass: Brass is a metal alloy consisting of copper and zinc.
Bronze: Bronze is a metal alloy consisting of copper and tin.
Appearance
Brass: Brass is often a bright golden color.
Bronze: Bronze is reddish brown in color.
Components
Brass: Brass is mainly composed of copper and zinc. But sometimes aluminum and lead are added.
Bronze: Bronze is mainly composed of copper and tin. But sometimes arsenic, phosphorus, aluminum, manganese and silicon are added.
stringiness
Brass: Brass has high ductility.
Bronze: Bronze is hard and brittle.
Corrosion resistance
Brass: Brass is resistant to corrosion, but not to salt water.
Bronze: Bronze is resistant to corrosion in salt water.
Benefits
Brass: Brass is mainly used for decorative purposes.
Bronze: Bronze is used in the manufacture of marine and marine fittings due to its corrosion resistance to salt water.
hardness
Brass: Brass is a soft metal and should not be used near flammable materials.
Bronze: Bronze is a hard metal, so it can be used with flammable and explosive materials.
Basic Information - Breaststroke vs Bronze
Brass and bronze are metal alloys of copper mixed with other metals or elements. The main difference between brass and bronze is their composition; brass is made up of the metals copper and zinc, whereas bronze is made up of the metals copper and tin. They have different properties and uses due to this difference in composition.
Recommendations:
1.Helmenstine. Anna Maria. “What is brass? Composition and properties. "ThoughtCo. N.p., n.d. Web.
Source: https://ru.strephonsays.com/difference-between-brass-and-bronze
