Wood's metal

Wood's alloy

• 76093-98-6
• 8049-22-7 (deprecated)

Odorless silver gray solid

Fixed

~ 9.6 g · cm -3

60 ° C.

Insoluble in water

Risk

> 10,000 mg · kg -1 ( LD50, rat, oral)

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Wood's Metal, Wood's metal or Wood's alloy (german Wood's metal), an alloy close to the eutectic in the quaternary system bismuth -lead -tin -cadmium, which melts at about 60 ° C. So hot water is sufficient to melt it.

Composition

Wood's metal consists of

Cadmium present in the composition, but with 25 % of Sn, the alloy is Roses metal and melts at 94 ° C.

Properties

The Wood's metal expands during solidification of ( bismuth has this property ), so it has water as a density anomaly.

Use

Wood's metal is used because of its low melting point of a fuse for sprinkler systems or electrical fuses. In laboratories, it is also used for heating baths ( called metal baths). It was often used as a joke article. One person a spoon from Wood's metal was doing enough when they take a hot drink. In this stirring spoon is melted in the drink. This string must be no longer performed because of the lead and cadmium content today.