Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Metals and their uses
- Rocks which contain enough of a
metal or a metal compound to make
it worth extracting are called ORES
- Mining ores often involve digging up
large amounts of rocks. The ore may
need to be concentrated before the
metal is extracted.
- This process can produce
large amounts of waste and
may have major impacts on the environment
- Metals are usually found in the earths
crust: Combined with another element
(e.g.. Oxygen)
- A few metals (low in the reactivity series)
-> Such as Gold are found in the Earth as
the metal
- Gold can be separated from rocks by physical
methods -> HOWEVER most metals are found as
compounds SO metals have to be extracted by
chemical reactions
- Metals can be extracted from compounds by displacement (using a
more reactive element) <e.g..> Metals which are less reactive than
carbon can therefore be extracted from their oxides by heating carbon
- A metal higher up in the reactivity
series will displace any metals lower
in the series from their compounds.
The reaction is called a displacement
reaction
- A reduction reaction can take place as carbon removes
the oxygen from the oxide ---> To produce the metal
- EXAMPLE 2Fe2O3
+ 3C -> 4Fe =3CO2
Iron oxide+Carbon ->Iron + CO2