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Important Uses of Zinc
Zinc is a bright silver-blue metallic element that has many uses. Since Zinc does not appear in Nature in the pure state, the earliest users of the element did not identify it as we do today. They used it with copper in an alloy called Brass.
Zinc compounds are found all over the world in ores like Sphalerite and Smithsonite. Its major sources are Canada, the United States etc. Annual production of the metal runs about four million tons.
Chief application of zinc is as a protective coating for steel exposed to atmospheric corrosion. In the galvanizing process, steel objects are dipped into molten zinc which covers them with a shiny surface that prevents rusting.
Next major use is as a casting material. Alloys, containing zinc can be quickly and mechanically formed into simple shaped by using steel moulds. Such die-castings, as they are called, are widely used in automobiles and electrical appliances, hardware and toys.
Other zinc applications are in dry-cell batteries, various brass objects, and in roofing and construction materials. Compounds of zinc find uses in paints, medicines, cosmetics and in preventing wood from rotting.
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