Phosphor bronze is an alloy of copper with 3.5 to 10% of tin and a significant phosphorus content of up to 1%. The phosphorus is added as deoxidizing agent during melting. These alloys are notable for their toughness, strength, low coefficient of friction, and fine grain. The phosphorus also improves the fluidity of the molten metal and thereby improves the castability, and improves mechanical properties by cleaning up the grain boundaries. An alloy is a combination, either in solution or compound, of two or more elements, at least one of which is a metal, and where the resulting material has metallic properties. ... General Name, Symbol, Number copper, Cu, 29 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 4, d Appearance metallic pinkish red Standard atomic weight 63. ... General Name, Symbol, Number tin, Sn, 50 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 5, p Appearance silvery lustrous gray Standard atomic weight 118. ... General Name, Symbol, Number phosphorus, P, 15 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 15, 3, p Appearance waxy white/ red/ black/ colorless Standard atomic weight 30. ... In materials science and metallurgy, toughness is the resistance to fracture of a material when stressed. ... Strength of materials is materials science applied to the study of engineering materials and their mechanical behavior in general (such as stress, deformation, strain and stress-strain relations). ... The resistance to lateral motion when one attempts to slide the surface of one object over another surface is called friction or traction. ... A crystallite is a domain of solid-state matter that has the same structure as a single crystal. ... Viscosity is a measure of the resistance of a fluid to deformation under shear stress. ... Galvanized surface with visible crystallites (grains) of zinc. ...

Further increasing of phosphorus content leads to formation of a very hard compound Cu₃P (copper phosphide), resulting in a brittle bronze with only special uses. Copper phosphide, Cu3P, also copper(I) phosphide, cupric phosphide, cuprophosphorus and phosphor copper, is a compound of copper and phosphorus, a phosphide of copper. ... A material is brittle if it is subject to fracture when subjected to stress i. ...

Phosphor bronze is used for springs and other applications where resistance to fatigue, wear and chemical corrosion is required. It is also used in acoustic instrument strings (for acoustic guitars, mandolins, etc...). Assorted ancient Bronze castings found as part of a cache, probably intended for recycling. ... Helical or coil springs designed for tension A spring is a flexible elastic object used to store mechanical energy. ... A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ... A vibration in a string is a wave. ... Acoustic Guitar Playing an acoustic guitar without a pick (fingerpicking) A steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound. ... Carved (electric) and round backed mandolins (front) A mandolin is a small, stringed musical instrument which is plucked, strummed or a combination of both. ...

External links

• Copper and copper alloy microstructures: Phosphor bronze
• National Pollutant Inventory - Copper and compounds fact sheet

This alloy is also used as the metal component of some dental bridges, And it was supposedly developed in Germany during the 2nd World War when they could no longer obtain lignum vitae for propellor shaft bearings in their submarines. Which wood had long been used for this purpose in ships.