Week Two, Element of the Week: Iron

I was inspired to write about Iron because of my new cast iron skillets that I love to cook on. Iron’s symbol is Fe and its atomic number is 26. It is one of the few chemicals that is naturally ferromagnetic, which means that it is a permanent magnet. Interestingly, iron is the most common element in red giants (a type of star) and also forms the dense metal cores of some planets (Earth, for example). The core of Earth is thought to be made up of an iron-nickel alloy and makes up 35% of Earth’s mass, making it the most common element on Earth. However, it only makes up 5% of the crust of our planet. Most of the visible iron on Earth is in the form of iron oxide and tints the soil a rusty red. Iron is a metal that easily oxides when in contact with oxygen and is rarely found as a pure element. In terms of the Universe, iron is the sixth most common element.