brass vs bronze

	Which is it? Do you have a favorite? There was a copper age, bronze age and an iron age. But no brass age? huh?

Bronze was discovered around 3500 BC. Bronze is a combination (alloy) of copper and (usually) tin. But it was orginally mxed with arsanic. The earliest known users of bronze were the civilization in Iran, China and Iraq. It is known for being very hard, but also brittle. It is also a good conductor of electricity and heat. Bronze is a reddish brown.

Brass, on the other hand, is an alloy of copper and zinc. It was first known around 500 BC in West Asia and Eastern Mediterranean. Mixing with zinc, proved difficult, which was it wasn't known until so much later after bronze.  The Romans made many things out of brass. It is used in many musical instruments, like bells and horns.  It is also used when it is important for sparks not to form.   It is a mutted yellow, like a dull gold color, though it can be polished to shine.