Fill in the Blanks Defects - are they important?Online version defects by Yliana Baron Gavidia 1 ferrite carbide substitutional iron atoms solution precipitate solutions martensite defects interstitial carbon iron As we have seen so far , materials have defects at the atomic scale . These allow solute atoms to stay in positions normally occupied by solvent , as on solid solutions ; but , if energy is favorable and the size of the solute is small compared with the solvent interstitial space ( empty space between atoms ) , solid solutions can be formed . Under some circumstances , solid solutions exist for some compositions . As for sugar , you can dilute sugar in water . If you add more and more sugar , you would saturate the . If you add more sugar , the excess in sugar will as a second phase . This is also true for solid ; they can exist over a range of compositions and , in many cases , you can have one material with different phases that co - exists . One example of this kind of material is the steel . At the atomic level , steel is a mixture of and . But microscopically , steel is formed by two or more phases . A steel that have been slowly cooled , normally will show a mixture of Fe - ? ( ) and Fe3C ( intermetallic compound , ) . This mixture is called perlite . But if the steel is cooled less slowly , it would form bainita ( also a mixture between phases ) , and if the steel is quickly cooled to room temperature ( quenching ) it would form . In the three cases , the steel composition is the same , but the cooling rate determines the final microstructure .
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