Sandra Jupen, age 11, of Watervliet, NY., for  her question:

What is zinc used in?

You may find a piece of zinc in a battery cells It helps generate the electric current that makes the flash light. Chances are, there are sheets of zinc lining in your refrigerator. And maybe there is a glass jar in the kitchen with a zinc top, However, most of the zinc in everyday use is hidden. It appears mixed with other substances.

Pure zinc is a softish  blue‑white metal. It is not tough enough to do the sturdy work of iron or steel. But it has other qualities which iron and steel do not have, Zinc will not rust in moist weather.  Iron and steel rust and crumble away in almost any kind of weather,

So we put iron and zinc together to help each other; We than have the strength of the iron and the rust protection of the zinc. The iron is galvanized ‑ it gets coating of zinc, This can be done by dipping iron into molten hot zinc. It can be done by electrolysis. Pails, wire fences and even durable rainspouts are often made from galvanized iron.

Zinc is also a great blender with other metals, These mixtures are called alloys. Alloys are brewed by boiling two or more metals together, The brew cools into a still different kind of metal, 1, good alloy keeps the best qualities of all the ingredients. Sometimes even a few qualities are added. .

The brass andirons in the living room are made of alloy. They usually contain hidden zinc, Brass is usually made from a brew of copper and zinc. Maybe two parts of copper and one part of zinc are used. Both zinc and copper are softish metals, Brass is fairly hard. It keeps the sturdy qualities of the zinc and the shiny quality of the copper. Bronze, too, usually contains some zinc. So do alloys used to make a radiators, doorknobs and dye castings. The home and factory use plenty o'l' zinc alloys.

Some ends of zinc appear in ponder and liquid forms. Such compounds appear in paints and powders. Face powder often contains a form of zinc.

Zinc oxide and white zinc are used to give body t o the paint on the wall, Still other zinc compounds are used to poison insects,

Several ores yield zinc. The United States is the greatest producer of this Jack‑of‑all‑trades metal. Usually it is separated from the ores by smelting with burning coal. For a metal, zinc has a low boiling point. It goes off as vapor at about 1,665 degrees Fahrenheit, The vapor is chilled and freezes solid at 787 degrees Fahrenheit.