C1.3 Metals and their uses

Extracting metals
1. Ores
  1. Contain enough metal to make it economical
  2. Mined
2. Metals found as compounds
  1. Require chemical reactions to extract the metal
    1. Less reactive than carbon
      1. Reduction with carbon
        Aluminium and Titanium cannot be extracated this way
    2. More reactive than carbon
      1. Electrolysis of molten compounds
        Large amounts of energy
        Expensive
3. Copper
  1. Smelting
    1. Heating the copper ores in a furnace
      1. Then purified by electrolysis
  2. Phytomining or Bioleaching
    1. Phytomining- plants absorb metal
      1. Plants are burned
        Ash contains metal compounds
    2. Bioleaching- bacteria produces leachate solutions
      1. Contain metal compounds
  3. Electrolysis
    1. Solutions of copper salts
  4. Displacement with scrap iron
4. Expensive
  1. Many stages
  2. Large amounts of energy needed
    1. Should recycle metals
Alloys
1. Harder than pure metals
  1. Pure metals often too soft for many uses
  2. Different metals have different atom sizes, distort the layers making it harder to slide over each other
2. Impure iron is brittle
  1. Iron is converted into steel
    1. Steel is a mixture of iron and carbon
      1. Low-carbon steels are easily shaped
      2. High-carbon steels are hard
      3. Stainless steels are resistant to corrosion
Properties and uses of metals
1. Transition metals
  1. Good conductors of heat and electricity
  2. Can be bent and hammered into shape
  3. Good as structural materials
  4. Good for things that require conduction of heat and electricity
2. Copper
  1. Useful for plumbing and wiring
  2. Good conductor of heat and electricity
  3. Can be bent enough to make tanks
  4. Does not react with water
3. Aluminium and titanium
  1. Low density and resistant to corrosion
  2. Useful metals

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C1.3 Metals and their uses

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	Created by ELeanor Turner over 8 years ago