An alloy is a material made by combining two or more chemical elements, where at least one of the elements is a metal. This mixture results in a substance that has metallic properties but often with enhanced characteristics compared to the pure metals involved

. Typically, alloys are created by melting the base metal (the primary metal) and then adding other elements, which may be metals or non-metals, to improve properties such as strength, hardness, corrosion resistance, or cost- effectiveness

. For example, steel is an alloy of iron and carbon, where carbon significantly increases the strength of iron

. Alloys can be homogeneous (single phase) or heterogeneous (multiple phases), and they can have properties that differ markedly from their constituent elements. Common examples include stainless steel (iron, chromium, nickel), brass (copper and zinc), and bronze (copper and tin)

. In summary, an alloy is a carefully controlled mixture of metals (and sometimes non-metals) designed to produce a material with desirable and improved properties for various applications.