What is the percent of carbon in medium carbon steel?

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Carbon content defines how steel is categorized and how its properties behave. Medium carbon steel sits in the range roughly 0.30 to 0.60 percent carbon, which gives a good balance of strength, hardness after heat treatment, and still adequate toughness. This makes it suitable for parts like gears, shafts, and axles where you want more strength than low-carbon steel but not the brittleness or difficulty of working that can come with too high carbon. That broad 0.30–0.60% range matches the standard definition of medium carbon steel, so it’s the best choice. A range like 0.05–0.30% would be low-carbon steel, which is softer and more formable; 0.60–1.50% veers into high-carbon territory, which has different characteristics and isn’t typically what’s meant by medium carbon steel; a narrower 0.20–0.40% range doesn’t fully capture the commonly accepted span for medium carbon steel.