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Edexcel IGCSE Chemistry Your notes
Extraction & Uses of Metals
Contents
Sources of Metals
Extracting Metals
Using Metals
Alloys
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Sources of Metals
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Sources of metals
The Earth’s crust contains metals and metal compounds such as gold, copper, iron oxide and
aluminium oxide
Useful metals are often chemically combined with other substances forming ores
A metal ore is a rock that contains enough of the metal to make it worthwhile extracting
They have to be extracted from their ores through processes such as electrolysis, using
a blast furnace or by reacting with more reactive material
In many cases the ore is an oxide of the metal, therefore the extraction of these metals is a reduction
process since oxygen is being removed
Common examples of oxide ores are iron and aluminium ores which are called haematite and bauxite
respectively
Unreactive metals do not have to be extracted chemically as they are often found as the uncombined
element
This occurs as they do not easily react with other substances due to their chemical stability
Examples include gold and platinum which can both be mined directly from the Earth’s crust
Examiner Tips and Tricks
A metal can reduce another metal (remove oxygen) only if it is more reactive than the metal that is
bonded to the oxygen.
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Extracting Metals
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Extracting Metals
Extraction of metals and the reactivity series
The most reactive metals are at the top of the series
The tendency to become oxidised is thus linked to how reactive a metal is and therefore its position on
the reactivity series
Metals higher up are therefore less resistant to oxidation than the metals placed lower down which
are more resistant to oxidation
The position of the metal on the reactivity series determines the method of extraction
Metals extraction method table
Metal Extraction method
Most reactive
Potassium Extracted by electrolysis of the molten chloride or oxide
Large amounts of electricity are required, which makes this an expensive process
Sodium
Lithium
Calcium
Magnesium
Aluminium
Zinc Extracted by heating with a reducing agent such as carbon or carbon monoxide in a blast
furnace
Iron A cheap process as carbon is cheap and can also be a source of heat
Copper
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Silver Found as pure elements
Your notes
Gold
Least reactive
The extraction method depends on the position of a metal in the reactivity series
Higher placed metals (above carbon) have to be extracted using electrolysis as they are too reactive
and cannot be reduced by carbon
Lower placed metals can be extracted by heating with carbon which reduces them
The extraction method depends on the position of a metal in the reactivity series
Extraction of Iron from Hematite
Iron is extracted in a large container called a blast furnace from its ore, hematite
Modern blast furnaces produce approximately 10,000 tonnes of iron per day
This is a continuous process with new raw materials added and products removed all the time due to
the time and cost associated with getting the furnace up to temperature
The Blast Furnace
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Your notes
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There are three main zones in the blast furnace
The raw materials: iron ore (hematite), coke (an impure form of carbon), and limestone are added into Your notes
the top of the blast furnace
Hot air is blown into the bottom
Table of raw materials and their uses
Raw material Formula Use
Iron ore (hematite) Fe2O3 Source of iron
Coke C To provide carbon
Limestone CaCO3 To neutralise acidic impurities
Zone 1
Coke burns in the hot air forming carbon dioxide
The reaction is exothermic so it gives off heat, heating the furnace
carbon + oxygen → carbon dioxide
C (s) + O2 (g) → CO2 (g)
Zone 2
At the high temperatures in the furnace, more coke reacts with carbon dioxide forming carbon
monoxide
Carbon dioxide has been reduced to carbon monoxide
carbon + carbon dioxide → carbon monoxide
CO2 (g) + C (s) → 2CO (g)
Zone 3
Carbon monoxide reduces the iron(III) oxide in the iron ore to form iron
This will melt and collect at the bottom of the furnace, where it is tapped off:
iron(III) oxide + carbon monoxide → iron + carbon dioxide
Fe2O3 (s) + 3CO (g) → 2Fe (I) + 3CO2 (g)
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Removal of impurities
Limestone (calcium carbonate) is added to the furnace to remove acidic impurities in the ore Your notes
The calcium carbonate in the limestone thermally decomposes to form calcium oxide
calcium carbonate → calcium oxide + carbon dioxide
CaCO3 (s) → CaO (s) + CO2 (g)
The calcium oxide formed reacts with the silicon dioxide, which is an impurity in the iron ore, to form
calcium silicate by neutralisation
calcium oxide + silicon dioxide → calcium silicate
CaO (s) + SiO2 (s) → CaSiO3 (l)
This melts and collects as a molten slag floating on top of the molten iron, which is tapped off
separately
Extraction of Aluminium
Aluminium is a reactive metal, above carbon in the reactivity series
Its main ore, is bauxite, which contains aluminium oxide
Aluminium is higher in the reactivity series than carbon, so it cannot be extracted by reduction using
carbon
Instead, aluminium is extracted by electrolysis
The electrolytic cell for extraction of aluminium
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Your notes
Diagram showing the extraction of aluminium by electrolysis
Bauxite is first purified to produce aluminium oxide, Al2O3
Aluminium oxide is then dissolved in molten cryolite
This is because aluminium oxide has a melting point of over 2000°C which would use a lot of
energy and be very expensive
The resulting mixture has a lower melting point without interfering with the reaction
The mixture is placed in an electrolysis cell, made from steel, lined with graphite
The graphite lining acts as the negative electrode, with several large graphite blocks as the positive
electrodes
At the cathode (negative electrode):
Aluminium ions gain electrons (reduction)
Molten aluminium forms at the bottom of the cell
The molten aluminium is siphoned off from time to time and fresh aluminium oxide is added to the
cell
Al3+ + 3e– → Al
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At the anode (positive electrode):
Oxide ions lose electrons (oxidation) Your notes
Oxygen is produced at the anode:
2O2– → O2 + 4e–
The carbon in the graphite anodes reacts with the oxygen produced to produce CO2
C (s) + O2 (g) → CO2 (g)
As a result the anode wears away and has to be replaced regularly
A lot of electricity is required for this process of extraction, this is a major expense
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Make sure you can explain why aluminium is extracted by electrolysis while iron is extracted by
reduction as it is a question that often comes up.
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Using Metals
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Uses of metals
The uses of aluminium, copper and steel are summarised in these tables:
Uses of Aluminium
Use Property
Aircraft bodies High strength-to-weight ratio (low density)
Saucepans Very good conductor of heat and unreactive
Overhead electrical cables Very good conductor of electricity
Food cans Non-toxic, resistant to corrosion and resistant to acidic food stuffs
Uses of copper
Use Property
Electrical wiring Very good conductor of electricity and ductile
Saucepans Very good conductor of heat, unreactive, malleable
Water pipes Unreactive (does not react with water), non-toxic and malleable
Uses of iron
Use Property
Building material Good strength, malleable and ductile, relatively inexpensive
Catalyst Variable oxidation state*
Increases the rate of reaction without being used up
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* This is beyond the scope of this specification but included for completeness
Uses of Steel Your notes
Type of Iron alloyed with Use Property
steel
Mild 0.25% C Car body panels and wiring Soft and malleable
High carbon 0.5-1.4% C Tools, e.g. chisels Hard
Stainless 20% Cr and 10% Cutlery, sinks and chemical Strong and resistant to
Ni plants corrosion
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Alloys
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Alloys
An alloy is a mixture of two or more metals or metal with a non-metal such as carbon
Steel is made from iron and carbon
Alloys often have properties that can be very different from the metals they contain
They can be stronger and harder
They are resistance to corrosion or extreme temperatures
These enhanced properties can make alloys more useful than pure metals
Alloys are harder than pure metals because:
Alloys contain atoms of different sizes
This distorts the regular arrangements of atoms
So it is more difficult for the layers of atoms to slide over each other
Brass is a common example of an alloy which contains 70% copper and 30% zinc
Alloy structure
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Your notes
The regular arrangement of a metal lattice structure is distorted in alloys
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Questions on this topic often give you a selection of particle diagrams and ask you to choose the
one which represents an alloy. It will be the diagram with uneven sized particles and distorted layers
or rows of particles.
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