Hard, brittle and slightly bluish, zinc is an abundant metal that would be much more widely used if it wasn’t for its poor resistance to corrosion. It may not be used in its pure form for this reason but refineries the world over still churn out millions of tons of this metal each year. Most of it ends up being used to for coating steel which, despite being itself susceptible to corrosion, still imparts a measure of protection against weathering. One good example are guard rails along roads. If you’ve ever looked closely at one you may notice splotchy patterns on the surface. These are the boundaries of zinc crystals butting up one against the other.

Millions of tons of zinc also go into making brass fittings. Brass is an alloy of zinc and copper and with the mixing of the two you get the golden-hued metal that is so often used for fancy accents.