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Iron atomic mass

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Iron in biology

Use of Iron by organisms

Iron is an important biological element.[1][2][3] It is used in both the ubiquitous iron-sulfur proteins[1] and in vertebrates it is used in hemoglobin which is essential for blood and oxygen transport.[4]

Overview

See also: Iron-sulfur protein

Iron is required for life.[1][2][3] The iron–sulfur clusters are pervasive and include nitrogenase, the enzymes responsible for biological nitrogen fixation. Iron-containing proteins participate in transport, storage and use of oxygen.[1] Iron proteins are involved in electron transfer.[5] The ubiquity of Iron in life has led to the Iron–sulfur world hypothesis that iron was a central component of the environment of early life.[6][7][8][9][10]

Examples of iron-containing proteins in higher organisms include hemoglobin, cytochrome (see high-valent iron), and catalase.[1][11] The average adult human contains abo

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Iron

This article is about the metallic element. For other uses, see Iron (disambiguation).

Chemical element with atomic number 26 (Fe)

Pronunciation
Allotropessee Allotropes of iron
Appearancelustrous metallic with a grayish tinge
Atomic number(Z)26
Groupgroup 8
Periodperiod 4
Block d-block
Electron configuration[Ar] 3d6 4s2
Electrons per shell2, 8, 14, 2
Phaseat STPsolid
Melting point1811 K ​(1538 °C, ​2800 °F)
Boiling point3134 K ​(2861 °C, ​5182 °F)
Density (at 20° C)7.874 g/cm3 [3]
when liquid (at m.p.)6.98 g/cm3
Heat of fusion13.81 kJ/mol
Heat of vaporization340 kJ/mol
Molar heat capacity25.10 J/(mol·K)
Vapor pressure
P (Pa)1 10 100 1 k 10 k 100 k
at T (K)1728 1890 2091 2346 2679 3132
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Facts about iron

From being a crucial building block of steel to nourishing plants and helping carry oxygen in your blood — iron is always busy helping sustain life on Earth.

Iron is a brittle, hard substance, classified as a metal in Group 8 on the Periodic Table of the Elements. The most abundant of all metals, its pure form rapidly corrodes from exposure to moist air and high temperatures. Iron is also the fourth most common element in Earth's crust by weight and much of Earth's core is thought to be composed of iron. Besides being commonly found on Earth, it is abundant in the sun and stars, according to the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Iron is crucial to the survival of living organisms, according to Jefferson Lab. In plants, it plays a role in the production of chlorophyll. In animals, it is a component of hemoglobin — a protein in blood that carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues in the body.

Ninety percent of all metal that is refined these days is iron, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. Most of it is used to make steel — an alloy o

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