Originally Posted by WorldWind
Once you introduce carbon into the latis structure of metallic iron it becomes steel and is no longer iron. Even though it is comprised of elemental iron molecules and carbon on the molecular level.
If you are focusing on the molecules you can’t see the big picture.
And you miss the little picture. The iron in steel has not undergone any change that makes it not act like iron. It still oxidizes. It still atracts a magnet. It is still Fe. I'm so glad I switched from engineering to chemistry in college, so now I'm not completely clueless.