Ferrous, in chemical science, indicates a bivalent iron compound (+2 oxidation state), as opposed to ferric, which indicates a trivalent iron compound (+3 oxidation state).^[1]

Outside of chemical science, ferrous is an adjective used to indicate the presence of iron.^[1] The word is derived from the Latin word ferrum ("iron").^[2] Ferrous metals include steel and pig iron (with a carbon content of a few percent) and alloys of iron with other metals (such as stainless steel).

The term non-ferrous is used to indicate metals other than iron and alloys that do not contain an appreciable amount of iron.^[3]

[edit] See also

• Ferric
• Ferromagnetism
• Iron(II) oxide
• Steelmaking

[edit] References

Look up ferrous or nonferrous in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.