bell metal

bell metal: see bronze.

Bell metal is a hard alloy used for making bells. It is a form of bronze, usually approximately 3:1 ratio of copper to tin (78% copper, 22% tin). In the Indian states of West Bengal and Orissa, it is locally called kansa and is used for the manufacture of utensils. Balakati near Bhubaneswar is famous for bell metal utensils.

In Russia, church bells are commonly cast with a different mixture of bronze and tin, often with silver added, to produce their unique sonority and resonance.

Bell metal ore is a sulfide of tin, copper, and iron; and the mineral stannite.

References

Further reading

• Shen, Sinyan (1987), "Acoustics of Ancient Chinese Bells", Scientific American, Vol. 256, p. 94.

External links

• National Pollutant Inventory - Copper and compounds fact sheet