Solder is a fusible metal alloy used to join together metal workpieces and having a melting point below that of the workpiece. Soft solder is typically thought of when solder or soldering is mentioned, with a typical melting range of 90 to 450 °C. It is commonly used in electronics, plumbing, and assembly of sheet metal parts. Manual soldering uses a soldering iron or soldering gun. Alloys that melt between 180 and 190 °C are the most commonly used. Soldering performed using alloys with a melting point above 450 °C is called 'hard soldering', 'silver soldering', or brazing. For certain proportions an alloy becomes eutectic and melts at a single temperature; non-eutectic alloys have markedly different solidus and liquidus temperature, and within that range they exist as a paste of solid particles in a melt of the lower-melting phase. In electrical work, if the joint is disturbed in the pasty state before it has solidified totally, a poor electrical connection may result; use of eutectic solder reduces this problem. The pasty state of a non-eutectic solder can be exploited in plumbing as it allows molding of the solder during cooling, e.g. for ensuring watertight joint of pipes, resulting in a so-called 'wiped joint'.4² Wikipedia [ - ]

Solder is a fusible metal alloy used to join together metal workpieces and having a melting... [ + ]