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Pure iron is silvery white and it's a very lustrous metal (meaning the way light interacts with it). It is extremely malleable and ductile which is one of the reasons it has been used by humans for so long.
It is generally magnetic although it can also be demagnetized. It does however remain magnetized even after a magnetic object is removed from its vicinity and this is known as ferromagnetic. Several metals demonstrate this property and they have many useful qualities the best known of which are fridge magnets. The magnetic properties of iron have helped in studying the history of the Earth as ancient particles in rocks have aligned in different directions over thousands of years, reflecting changes in the magnetic field of the Earth.
On Earth it does not appear in a pure form but can be found in compounds with other rocks known as ores. These ores need to be treated in furnaces to extract usable iron and other materials. Occasionally it appears in meteorites and other objects which originate from space.
Further reading:
Iron
| ← Iridescence | Iron Ore → |
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