The metals are mixed to create some form of desirable property in the finished product. For example stainless steel which is an alloy of iron with chromium and vanadium prevents rusting. Other desirable properties include tensile strength, malleability and ductility.
Other alloys include:
bronze
solder
pewter
brass
white gold[?]
See also metallurgy
This page should be merged with Alloy
wikipedia.org dumped 2003-03-17 with terodump