Calcium and Iron - Comparison - Properties

This article contains comparison of key thermal and atomic properties of calcium and iron, two comparable chemical elements from the periodic table. It also contains basic descriptions and applications of both elements. Calcium vs Iron.

calcium and iron - comparison

Compare calcium with another element

Compare iron with another element

Calcium and Iron – About Elements

Calcium

Calcium is an alkaline earth metal, it is a reactive pale yellow metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to its heavier homologues strontium and barium. It is the fifth most abundant element in Earth’s crust and the third most abundant metal, after iron and aluminium.

Iron

Iron is a metal in the first transition series. It is by mass the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth’s outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth’s crust. Its abundance in rocky planets like Earth is due to its abundant production by fusion in high-mass stars.

Calcium in Periodic Table

Iron in Periodic Table

Source: www.luciteria.com

Calcium and Iron – Applications

Calcium

The largest use of metallic calcium is in steelmaking, due to its strong chemical affinity for oxygen and sulfur. Its oxides and sulfides, once formed, give liquid lime aluminate and sulfide inclusions in steel which float out. Calcium compounds are used as manufacture of insecticides, paints, blackboard chalk, textile and fireworks.

Iron

Iron is used in numerous sectors such as electronics, manufacturing, automotive, and construction and building. Iron is the most widely used of all the metals, accounting for over 90% of worldwide metal produc0tion. Its low cost and high strength often make it the material of choice material to withstand stress or transmit forces, such as the construction of machinery and machine tools, rails, automobiles, ship hulls, concrete reinforcing bars, and the load-carrying framework of buildings. Since pure iron is quite soft, it is most commonly combined with alloying elements to make steel. Steels are iron–carbon alloys that may contain appreciable concentrations of other alloying elements. Adding a small amount of non-metallic carbon to iron trades its great ductility for the greater strength. Due to its very-high strength, but still substantial toughness, and its ability to be greatly altered by heat treatment, steel is one of the most useful and common ferrous alloy in modern use. There are thousands of alloys that have different compositions and/or heat treatments. The mechanical properties are sensitive to the content of carbon, which is normally less than 1.0 wt%.

Calcium and Iron – Comparison in Table

Element	Calcium	Iron
Density	1.55 g/cm3	7.874 g/cm3
Ultimate Tensile Strength	110 MPa	540 MPa
Yield Strength	N/A	50 MPa
Young’s Modulus of Elasticity	20 GPa	211 GPa
Mohs Scale	1.5	4.5
Brinell Hardness	170 – 400 MPa	490 MPa
Vickers Hardness	N/A	608 MPa
Melting Point	842 °C	1538 °C
Boiling Point	1484 °C	2861 °C
Thermal Conductivity	200 W/mK	80.2 W/mK
Thermal Expansion Coefficient	22.3 µm/mK	11.8 µm/mK
Specific Heat	0.63 J/g K	0.44 J/g K
Heat of Fusion	8.54 kJ/mol	13.8 kJ/mol
Heat of Vaporization	153.3 kJ/mol	349.6 kJ/mol