Iron is a strong, transition metal we humans are very dependant upon in modern society. If you look around you will see many objects that use iron. Iron is particularly important in the science of construction and engineering, allowing us to build modern skyscrapers and complex structures. But Iron’s reactivity must be considered, iron alone rusts easily .and then its strength is lost.

We started using iron in the Iron Age, approximately 1200 BC. People in this time found iron rich rocks, which they melted and turned into tools and weapons. Stronger tools were made using iron. This allowed improvements in agriculture with stronger plough tips and sickles, also making it possible to sow crops in land where crops couldn’t be sown before. Blacksmiths melted iron rich rocks and created these tools and other objects that helped them with agriculture, like horse shoes. The usage of iron at this time changed the world. (5 and 6)

Today we use Iron in our everyday life. Buildings, bridges and a lot of construction work use steel, which is predominantly iron, in the foundation, making the buildings stronger. Cars, airplanes, ships and machines also contain a lot of iron. A lot of items that you find in your kitchen contain iron, cast iron pans and many kitchen utensils are made from stainless steel, which is more than 50% iron.

Today we cannot find iron lying around as rocks on the earth as much. We must use science to mine and extract iron. Iron gets extracted from iron ores