1. An alloy is formed by blending a metal with one or more other elements. The elements may be metals or non-metals or both.
2. The bulk metal is named as solvent, and the other elements in smaller portion is called solute.
3. According to Hume – Rothery rule to form an alloy, the difference between the atomic radii of the solvent and solute is less than 15%. Both the solvent and solute must have the same crystal structure and valence and their electro negativity difference must be close to zero.
4. Since their atomic sizes are similar and one metal atom can be easily replaced by another metal atom from its crystal lattice to form an alloy. The alloys are hard and have high melting points. Examples – Gold – copper alloy.
