Ingot facts for kids
An ingot is a block of material, usually metal, that has been melted and poured into a mold. Think of it like a big, solid brick of metal. This shape makes it easy to store and move. Ingots are not usually the final product. They need more work, like being heated and shaped, to become useful items. For example, a metal bar ingot could be shaped into the tip of a hammer.
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What is an Ingot?
Ingots are a basic form of many materials, especially metals. They are made by taking a liquid material and letting it cool down in a special container called a mold. This process is called casting. The mold gives the material a simple shape, like a bar or a block.
This simple shape is perfect for storing and shipping the material. Later, factories can melt the ingot again or use heat and pressure to reshape it. This reshaping turns the ingot into many different products we use every day.
Different Kinds of Ingots
Ingots are not just for metals. Other materials, especially in the technology world, also come in ingot forms.
Metal Ingots
Metal ingots are made by heating metal until it melts. This hot, liquid metal is then poured into a mold. As the metal cools, it becomes a solid block or bar. These metal ingots are often sold to other companies. These companies will then melt them down again. They use the melted metal to make new products.
Many different metals are made into ingots. These include gold, silver, copper, aluminum, and iron. You might see pictures of gold bars in movies. Those are a type of gold ingot!
Semiconductor Ingots
In the world of computers and electronics, special materials are used. These are called semiconductors. They are also grown into large, single crystal ingots. These are often called boules. Imagine a giant, perfect crystal in the shape of a cylinder.
These boules are then sliced into very thin, round pieces. These thin pieces are called wafers. After that, tiny electronic parts are built on these wafers. These parts include things like the microprocessors in your phone or computer. They also make light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for lights and screens.
Images for kids
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Aluminium ingot after ejection from mold
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Pouring molten gold into a mold at the La Luz Gold Mine in Siuna, Nicaragua about 1959.
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Pouring ingots at a steel mill
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Re-melted tin affected with tin pest is poured into ingot molds at Rock Island Arsenal Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center, Rock Island, Illinois.
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Ancient copper oxhide ingot from Zakros, Crete. The ingot is shaped in the form of an animal skin, a typical shape of copper ingots from these times.
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Lead ingots from Roman Britain on display at the Wells and Mendip Museum.
See also
In Spanish: Lingote para niños
