MCQ Detailed View

Annealing is a heat treatment process applied to steel and other metals to improve their ductility and reduce hardness. In this process, steel is heated to a temperature below red heat and held at that temperature for some time, allowing internal stresses to relax. After this, the steel is cooled slowly, typically in air or inside the furnace. Slow cooling ensures the metal structure becomes more uniform, reducing brittleness.

Annealing alters the microstructure of steel, making it softer and easier to work with. It also improves machinability and relieves internal stresses caused by prior cold working. This is different from quenching, where steel is heated and then cooled rapidly, increasing hardness, or tempering, where quenched steel is reheated to a lower temperature to reduce brittleness. Nitriding is another process where nitrogen is diffused into the steel surface to improve wear resistance.

Annealing is widely used in manufacturing, metalworking, and engineering applications to prepare steel for further shaping, rolling, or machining. Understanding annealing is important in materials science and inorganic chemistry because it demonstrates how heat treatment can control the physical and mechanical properties of metals.