Pewter is a malleable Ductility is a mechanical property that describes the extent in which solid materials can be plastically deformed without fracture metal A metal is a chemical element that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat and forms cations and ionic bonds with non-metals. In chemistry, a metal is an element, compound, or alloy characterized by high electrical conductivity. In a metal, atoms readily lose electrons to form positive ions (cations). Those ions are surrounded by alloy An alloy is a partial or complete solid solution of one or more elements in a metallic matrix. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may be homogeneous in distribution depending on thermal history. Alloys usually have different properties from those of the, traditionally between 85 and 99 percent tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead, like the two possible oxidation states +2 and +4. Tin is the 49th most abundant element and has, with 10 stable isotopes, the largest, with the remainder consisting of copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (Latin: cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is rather soft and malleable, and a freshly exposed surface has a pinkish or peachy color. It is used as a thermal conductor, an electrical conductor, a building material, and a, antimony Antimony ;[note 2] Latin: stibium) is a chemical element with the symbol Sb and an atomic number of 51. It has two stable isotopes, one with seventy neutrons, the other with seventy-two. A silvery lustrous grey metalloid, it is found mainly as antimony sulfide, commonly known as stibnite, bismuth Bismuth is a chemical element that has the symbol Bi and atomic number 83. This trivalent poor metal chemically resembles arsenic and antimony. Bismuth is heavy and brittle; it has a silvery white color with a pink tinge owing to the surface oxide. Bismuth is the most naturally diamagnetic of all metals, and only mercury has a lower thermal and lead Lead is a main-group element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed to air. Lead has a shiny chrome-silver luster when it is melted into a. Copper and antimony act as hardeners while lead is common in the lower grades of pewter, which have a bluish tint. It has a low melting point The melting point of a solid is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of the solid and the liquid are equal. At the melting point the solid and liquid phase exist in equilibrium. When considered as the temperature of the reverse change from liquid to solid, it is referred to as the freezing point. Because of the ability of some substances to, around 170–230 °C (about oven temperature), depending on the exact mixture of metals.^[1] The word pewter is probably a variation of the word spelter Spelter, while sometimes merely a synonym for zinc, is often used to identify a zinc alloy. In this sense it might be an alloy of equal parts copper and zinc used for hard soldering and brazing, or as an alloy, containing lead, that is used instead of bronze. In this usage it was common for many 19th-century cheap, cast articles such as, a colloquial name for zinc Zinc , also known as spelter, is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2. Zinc is the 24th most abundant element in the.^[2]

History

Pewter was first used around the beginning of the Bronze Age The Bronze Age of a culture is the period when the most advanced metalworking in that culture used bronze. This could either have been based on the local smelting of copper and tin from ores, or trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere. Many, though not all, Bronze Age cultures flourished in prehistory in the Near East The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for archeologists and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other. The term originally applied to the Balkan states in Eastern Europe, but now generally describes the countries of Western Asia between the Mediterranean Sea. The earliest piece of pewter found is from an Egyptian Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and it developed over the next three millennia. Its history tomb from 1450 BC.^[3]

Types

The constituents of pewter were first controlled in the 12th century by town guilds in France. By the 15th century, the Worshipful Company of Pewterers controlled pewter constituents in England. This company originally had two grades of pewter, but, in the 16th century, a third grade was added. The first type, known as fine metal, was used for flatware Cutlery refers to any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in the Western world. It is more usually known as silverware or flatware in the United States, where cutlery can have the more specific meaning of knives and other cutting instruments. This is probably the original meaning of the word. Since silverware. It consisted of tin with as much copper as it could absorb, which is about 1%. The second type, known as trifling metal or trifle, was used for holloware Holloware is a term that refers to table service items such as sugar bowls, creamers, coffee pots, teapots, soup tureens, hot food covers, water pitchers, platters, butter pat plates and other metal items that went with the china on a table. It does not include flatware. Holloware was constructed to last a long time. It differs from some other. It is made up of fine metal with approximately 4% lead. The last type of pewter, known as lay or ley metal, was used for items that weren't in contact with food or drink. It consisted of tin with 15% lead. These three alloys were used, with little variation, until the 20th century.^[3]

Modern pewters must contain at least 90% tin and be alloyed with copper, antimony, or bismuth to be considered a pewter. Lead is no longer permitted to be an alloying element.^[3] Older pewters with higher lead content are heavier, tarnish faster, and oxidation Redox describes all chemical reactions in which atoms have their oxidation number (oxidation state) changed. This can be either a simple redox process, such as the oxidation of carbon to yield carbon dioxide (CO2) or the reduction of carbon by hydrogen to yield methane (CH4), or a complex process such as the oxidation of sugar(C6H12O6) in the gives them a darker silver-grey color.^{[citation needed]}

A typical European casting alloy would contain 94% tin, 1% copper, and 5% antimony. A European pewter sheet would contain 92% tin, 2% copper, and 6% antimony. Asian pewter, produced mostly in Malaysia ^ b. The current terminology as per government policy is Bahasa Malaysia but legislation continues to refer to the official language as Bahasa Melayu (literally Malay language). English may continue to be used for some official purposes under the National Language Act 1967, Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, 137 kilometres north of the equator, in the Southeast Asian region of the Asian continent. It is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north, and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the Singapore Strait to its south. A, and Thailand Thailand (pronounced /ˈtaɪlænd/ TYE-land or /ˈtaɪlənd/; Thai: ราชอาณาจักรไทย Ratcha Anachak Thai, IPA: [râːtɕʰa ʔaːnaːtɕɑ̀k tʰɑj]) (formerly Siam Thai: สยาม) is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos, contains a higher percentage of tin, usually 97.5% tin, 1% copper, and 1.5% antimony. This makes the alloy slightly softer.^[3]

Uses

Pewter items are often found in churches. Use of pewter was common from the Middle Ages The Middle Ages is a period of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The period followed the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, and preceded the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period in a three-period division of history: Classical, Medieval, and Modern. The term "Middle Ages" (medium aevum) was coined in up until the various developments in glass Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle, and often optically transparent. Glass is commonly used for windows, bottles, and eyewear; examples of glassy materials include soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, acrylic glass, sugar glass, Muscovy-glass, and aluminium oxynitride. The term glass developed in the late Roman-making during the 18th and 19th centuries. Pewter was the chief tableware until the making of porcelain Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 °C and 1,400 °C (2,552 °F). The toughness, strength, and translucence of porcelain arise mainly from the formation of glass and the mineral mullite within the fired body at these high. Contrary to urban legend, the use of lead-containing pewter tableware was unrelated to the mistrust of tomatoes The tomato is a savory, typically red, edible fruit, as well as the plant which bears it. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler climates as a foodstuff in Northern Europe during the 16th century.^[4] Mass production Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines. The concepts of mass production are applied to various kinds of products, from fluids and particulates handled in bulk (such as food, fuel, chemicals, and mined minerals) to discrete solid parts (such as fasteners) to assemblies of glass products has seen glass universally replace pewter in day-to-day life. Pewter artifacts An artifact or artefact is any object made or modified by a human. In archaeology, an artifact is an object recovered by some archaeological endeavor, which may have a cultural interest. Examples include stone tools such as projectile points, pottery vessels, metal objects such as guns, and items of personal adornment such as buttons, jewellery continue to be produced, mainly as decorative or specialty items. Pewter was also used around East Asia East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. Geographically and geo-politically, it covers about 12,000,000 km2 (4,600,000 sq mi), or about 28 percent of the Asian continent, about 15 percent bigger than the area of Europe. Although some items still exist, Ancient Roman Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world pewter is very rare.^[5]

"Unlidded" mugs and lidded tankards A tankard is a form of drinkware consisting of a large, roughly cylindrical, drinking cup with a single handle. Tankards are usually made of silver, pewter, or glass, but can be made of other materials, for example clay or leather. A tankard may have a hinged lid, and tankards featuring glass bottoms are also fairly common. Tankards are shaped and may be the most familiar pewter artifacts from the late 17th and 18th centuries, although the metal is also used for many other items including porringers, plates, dishes, basins, spoons, measures, flagons, communion cups, teapots, sugar bowls, beer steins Beer stein or simply stein is an English neologism for either traditional beer mugs made out of stoneware, or specifically ornamental beer mugs that are usually sold as souvenirs or collectibles. Such Steins may be made out of stoneware (rarely the inferior earthenware), pewter, porcelain, or even silver, wood or crystal glass; they may have open and cream jugs. In the early 19th century, changes in fashion caused a decline in the use of pewter flatware, however, there was increased production of both cast and spun pewter tea sets, as well as whale-oil lamps, candlesticks, etc. Later in the century, pewter alloys were often used as a base metal for silver-plated Electroplating is a plating process that uses electrical current to reduce cations of a desired material from a solution and coat a conductive object with a thin layer of the material, such as a metal. Electroplating is primarily used for depositing a layer of material to bestow a desired property to a surface that otherwise lacks that property objects.

Today, pewter is mainly used in decorative objects, mainly collectible statuettes and figurines, model aircraft, replica coins, pendants, etc. Certain athletic contests, such as the United States Figure Skating Championships, award pewter medals to the fourth place finishers. Interestingly, these medals cost more to produce than the 3rd place bronze medal.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Britannia metal Britannia metal or britannium is a pewter-type alloy favoured for its silvery appearance and smooth surface. The composition is approximately 93% tin, 5% antimony, and 2% copper
• English pewter While the term pewter covers a range of tin-based alloys, the term English pewter has come to represent a strictly-controlled alloy, specified by BSEN611-1 and British Standard 5140, consisting mainly of tin , with the balance made up of antimony and copper. Significantly, it is free of lead and nickel. Although the exact percentages vary between
• Royal Selangor Royal Selangor is a Malaysian pewter manufacturer and retailer, the largest of its type in the world. It is recognized as a Malaysian brand icon
• Spin casting Spin casting, also known as centrifugal rubber mold casting , is a method of utilizing centrifugal force to produce castings from a rubber mold. Typically, a disc-shaped mold is spun along its central axis at a set speed. The casting material, usually molten metal or liquid thermoset plastic is then poured in through an opening at the top-center

Notes

1. ^ Campbell 2006, p. 207.
2. ^ Skeat 1893, pp. 438–439.
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Hull 1992, p. 4.
4. ^ About.com Medieval History: The Bad Old Days
5. ^ Government Auctions UK

References

• Skeat, Walter William (1893), An etymological dictionary of the English language (2nd ed.), Clarendon Press, http://books.google.com/books?id=OHkKAAAAIAAJ .
• Campbell, Gordon (2006), The Grove encyclopedia of decorative arts (illustrated ed.), Oxford University Press, ISBN The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering (SBN) code created by Gordon Foster, now Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin, for the booksellers and stationers W.H. Smith and others in 1966 9780195189483, http://books.google.com/books?id=R8BMW6Au7pQC .
• Hull, Charles (1992), Pewter, Osprey Publishing, ISBN The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering (SBN) code created by Gordon Foster, now Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin, for the booksellers and stationers W.H. Smith and others in 1966 9780747801528, http://books.google.com/books?id=3_zyycVRw18C .

External links

• PewterBank

Categories: Fusible alloys

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