Britannica AI Icon

Quick Summary

Common lead is fully refined and desilvered lead with low copper content. It is widely used where high corrosion resistance is not necessary. Lead is a soft, silvery-white or grayish metal known for its durability and resistance to corrosion. Because pure lead has poor mechanical properties, it is often alloyed with other elements, particularly antimony, to improve its strength and hardness. Lead-silver alloys are used for solder joints that need to retain strength at higher temperatures than conventional lead-tin solders. Lead is also alloyed with calcium for use in lead-acid batteries.123

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.