
Initial dose: 600 mg/day ferrous sulfate (120 mg/day elemental iron) for 3 months Usual Adult Dose for Iron Deficiency Anemia

In the human body iron is a major component of the blood which carries oxygen throughout the body from the lungs. It is important in plants for photosynthesis. Iron also plays an important role in biology. Stainless steel is used in household appliances, cookware, surgical instruments, and industrial equipment.

It is used in the production of all sorts of items including cars, ships, buildings, and tools. Steel from iron is both inexpensive and very strong. Other elements common in steel include manganese, phosphorous, sulfur, and silicon. Carbon is one of the main alloying elements mixed with iron to make steel. There are various alloys of steel, but they all contain iron as the main metal. The most important iron alloys include cast iron, pig iron, wrought iron, and steel. Iron is used more than any other metal for producing metal alloys. Iron is also found in meteorites which can sometimes contain a large percentage of iron. Iron also makes up about 5% of the Earth's crust where it is the fourth most abundant element.īecause iron oxidizes when it comes into contact with air, most of the iron that is found on the surface of the Earth is in iron oxide minerals such as hematite and magnetite. The Earth's core is mostly made up of an iron-nickel alloy. Iron is the most abundant element in the Earth. The most stable form of iron at normal temperatures is alpha iron which is commonly known as ferrite. Iron can be found in four allotropic forms. Iron becomes significantly harder when alloyed with other elements such as carbon. Other naturally magnetic elements include cobalt and nickel.

Iron is the most naturally magnetic of the elements. It is malleable and a decent conductor of electricity and heat.

It is very reactive and will readily corrode or rust. In its pure form iron is a fairly soft, grayish metal. It is the sixth most abundant element in the universe. Iron atoms have 26 electrons and 26 protons with 30 neutrons occuring in the most abundant isotope. Iron is the first element in the eighth column of the periodic table.
