Interstitial elements

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Interstitial elements are impurities found in "pure" metals. The quantity of these metals can affect the metals physical properties. The most common interstitial elements are Hydrogen, Carbon, Nitrogen, and Oxygen. These elements are small enough to fit between normal crystaline lattice locations. In contrast, those element that replace locations in the crystaline structure are called substitutional elements.^[1]

An example of the effects of interstitial elements can be found in Grade 1-4 Titanium. Although the grades 1-4 are considered commercially "pure" they have varying tensile strength among other differences. These differences are caused by the amount of interstitial elements present in the titanium.