Wood's metal explained

Wood's metal, also known as Lipowitz's alloy or by the commercial names Cerrobend, Bendalloy, Pewtalloy and MCP 158, is a metal alloy that is useful for soldering and making custom metal parts, but its fumes are toxic, as well as being toxic on skin exposure. The alloy is named for Barnabas Wood, who invented and patented the alloy in 1860.^{[1] [2]} It is a eutectic, fusible alloy of 50% bismuth, 26.7% lead, 13.3% tin, and 10% cadmium by mass. It has a melting point of approximately 700NaN0.^{[3] [4]}

Applications

Other uses include making custom-shaped apertures and blocks (for example, electron-beam cutouts and lung blocks) for medical radiation treatment, and making casts of keys that are hard to otherwise duplicate.

Like other fusible alloys, e.g. Rose's metal, Wood's metal can be used as a heat-transfer medium in hot baths. Hot baths with Rose's and Wood's metals are not used routinely but are employed at temperatures above 220°C.^[5]

Wood's metal has a modulus of elasticity of 12.7 GPa and a yield strength of 26.2 MPa.^[6]

Bibliography

• Birchon's Dictionary of Metallurgy, London, 1965
• Experimental techniques in low-temperature physics, G. K. White, Oxford University Press, Third Edition

External links

• Making your own low-melting point eutectic: Science Toys: A metal that melts in hot water
• Burdakin et al., "Melting points of gallium and of binary eutectics with gallium", Metrologia, 2008

Notes and References

1. The Origin of the Name "Onion's Fusible Alloy". Archived Reprint . William B. Jensen . William B. . Jensen . . 87 . 10 . 1050–1051 . 2010 . 10.1021/ed100764f . 2010JChEd..87.1050J . https://web.archive.org/web/20120403000458/http://www.che.uc.edu/Jensen/W.%20B.%20Jensen/Reprints/178.%20Fusible%20Alloys.pdf . 2012-04-03 .
2. Web site: Collection: Barnabas Wood Papers . . March 22, 2022.
3. Book: Gardner's Commercially Important Chemicals: Synonyms, Trade Names, and Properties . . 978-0-471-73661-5 . 2005 . G. W. A. Milne .
4. Web site: Khan F. M., Gibbons J. P. . The Physics of Radiation Therapy, 5th ed. . .
5. Book: Pharmaceutical Engineering . 9788122411690 . Sambamurthy . K. . 2007. New Age International .
6. Do-Gyoon . Kim . Evaluation of Filler Materials Used for Uniform Load Distribution at Boundaries During Structural Biomechanical Testing of Whole Vertebrae . Journal of Biomechanical Engineering . February 2006 . 128 . 1 . 161–165 . 10.1115/1.2133770 . 16532630 . 10.1.1.721.5864.