Just like that, another Olympic Games has come to a close. Since its inception in ancient Greece, the Olympics has showcased the resilience of the human spirit. This year’s ceremony was no different. As before, thousands of athletes from across the world gathered to prove who is best in their sport. Their reward? A much-coveted Olympic medal.
But despite the monumental achievement that these medals represent, all anyone cares about is “who won the gold.” It’s great if you won a silver, but you’re a mere footnote if you won the bronze.
To say that bronze is an under-appreciated metal is no hyperbole. A golden anniversary coincides with 50 years, while a bronze anniversary only commemorates eight years—if it even appears on such lists of monument. In fact, the traditional way of denoting record sales includes no mention of bronze whatsoever; it’s just platinum, gold, or silver.
Far from Third-Rate
According to Rotax Metals, which supplies bronze bars to industrial clients, bronze is actually one of the most important metals in the history of mankind. In fact, an entire era was named after it, a recognition of the metal’s role in shaping human history.
And cultural bias aside, bronze offers many benefits that other metals cannot. As an alloy—made from varying combinations of copper and tin—it is much tougher than its parent metal, copper, which is why it is often used in many commercial applications.
Bronze also offers exceptional resistance to corrosion, enduring much longer than other materials. More importantly, it is highly fusible, allowing everyone from architects to artists to easily melt it and cast it into a desired shape.
Versatility Defined
The bronze metal sheet supplier also notes that the metal lends itself to a wide variety of applications. Bronze is often used in the home, whether as door and window frames, or utilized to create stunning pieces of furniture. Likewise, a variety called statuary bronze wins favor from artists who use it to create stunning metal sculptures. Architects, on the other hand, use this alloy to create breathtaking facades often found in many modern buildings.
An Unquestioned Achievement
In a lot of ways, bronze stands as a greater monument to human achievement than either gold or silver could ever aspire. Unlike these two naturally occurring metals, bronze was actually created from the hard work and ingenuity of humans. It is stronger than either metals because of this genius.
Sources:
In Defense Of Bronze: The True Mettle Of The Metal Of The 3rd-Place Medal, npr.org
Bronze: Characteristics, Uses And Problems, gsa.gov
