Section 1: History of the use of Metals 1 Humans first started using metals around 5000 BC, which was copper, according to archaeological evidence. 2 The first metals humans ever used were gold and copper. Due to gold being unreactive and coppers low reactivity, both of these metals could be extracted without the input of much energy. 3 The substance that contains metals chemically combined with other elements in rock is called an ore. 4 The energy requirements for extracting a metal from its mineral are to mine the ore, crush the ore, separate the mineral from the ore and then decompose the mineral to produce the metal. Then energy is required to further refine/purify the metal. 5 The time period for the Copper Age was 3200-2300 BC 6 The minerals that are the sources of Copper are malachite, chalcopyrite and azurite. 7 Copper was extracted from its minerals in the Copper Age by heating the mineral with charcoal/copper to produce globules of copper metal. 8 Two important uses of copper in the Copper Age were to produce tools and weapons. 9 One disadvantage of using copper is that, in its pure form, its soft and is therefore not very effective when used for tools. 10 The time period for the Bronze Age was 2300-700 BC 11 Bronze is an alloy composed of Copper and Tin.
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12 Some advantages of using bronze over copper is that
its harder, resists corrosion and due to its lower melting point, can be melted and worked more easily. 13 The Iron Age commenced from 700 BC 14 One iron ore is Hematite 15 Iron is extracted from its ores by first mining the ore and then crushing it. It is then put into a blast furnace, into which air is blown into at sufficiently high temperatures, which first extracts the iron from the ore and then allows the softening of iron so that it can be forged. 16 Iron is converted into steel as iron undergoes rusting and its surface oxide layer is brittle. Steel is resistant to corrosion due to the addition of carbon and also has a higher tensile strength and therefore is more useful when used in construction/buildings. 17 Copper- used in electrical wirings due to its high electrical conductivity Iron- used to produce steel, which is used in construction due to its high tensile strength and resistance to corrosion Aluminium- used in aeroplane bodies and window frames due to its low density Gold- used in jewellery due to its lustre Zinc- used in protective paints/galvanizing iron as its oxide layer is resistant to further corrosion 18 An alloy is mixture of two or more metals 19 Alloys can enhance the properties of the elemental metals and therefore are more advantageous. This can include having a higher tensile strength and a higher resistance to corrosion. 20 Bronze- 80-90% Cu, 10-20% Sn, hard, resistant to corrosion, appearance is similar to gold, used in medals and dollar coins
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Brass- 60% Cu, 40% Zn, lustrous, can be polished, resists
corrosion, used in musical instruments and plumbing fittings Solder- 60% Pb, 40% Sn, low melting point, solidifies quickly, adheres firmly to other metals, used in a soldering rod to join metals together Steel- 99.8% Fe, .2% C, high tensile strength, ductile, malleable, resists corrosion, used in construction, buildings and cutlery 21 There are many more metals available for use today than 200 years ago due to the development of technology, which has allowed the development of more efficient extraction processes. Development of technology has also allowed the development of extraction processes capable of generating enough energy to break stronger bonds in compounds to release metals, such as the strong bond in Aluminium Oxide, which can only be broken through electrolysis, which was developed in the last 200 years, due to developments in n technology.
Section 2: Reactivity of Metals
1 Activity Series: K>Na>Li>Ba>Ca>Mg>Al>Zn>Fe>Sn>Pb>Cu>Ag>Pt>Au 2 Some metals are more reactive than others as they are able to lose their valence shells more easily and achieve a stable valence shell. A lower valency means a metal has fewer electrons in its outer shell that it needs to lose to become a stable ion. Metals with more outer shell electrons require more energy to remove the higher number of electrons and therefore ease of removal of valence electrons increases and essentially reactivity decreases. 8 Ionisation energy is the energy required to remove an electron from an atom of an element in its gaseous state
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9 First ionisation energy is the energy required to remove
a valence electron from an atom of an element in its gaseous state
Section 3: The Periodic Table
1 The contemporary model of the atom has a dense positive nucleus containing positively charged protons and neutrons with no charge, surrounded by negatively charged electrons existing in separate energy levels. Most of the atom is empty space. 2 Johann Dobereiner-
Section 4- Quantitative Chemistry
1 The isotope that is the reference for atomic mass is Carbon-12 2 One atomic mass unit is one-twelfth the mass of a Carbon-12 atom. In essence, it is the relative mass of one proton or neutron. 3 One Mg atom is approximately twice as heavier than one C atom 4 Avogadros number is the amount of atoms in 12 grams of Carbon-12. It is the number of particles (atoms, ions or molecules) in one mole of a substance. The constant is 6.022 x 10^23 5 The mole is a measurement or unit for the number of particles in a substance 6 Molar mass of a substance is the mass of one mole of that substance. 7 Gay Lussacs law
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8 Gay Lussacs law states when gases combine and are
produced in a chemical reaction at the same temperature and pressure they do so in volume that forms a simple whole number ratio. 9 Avogadros law states equal volume of gases at the same temperature and pressure contain equal number of molecules. Gay Lussac observed 10 Empirical formula consists of the simplest, whole number ration of atoms of elements present in a compound, whereas molecular formula consists of exact number of atoms of elements present in a compound. 11 Ionic compounds consist of repeating 3-D lattices in which no discrete units are known. Therefore, it is impossible to determine exact units and a ratio of atoms of elements is used instead of a molecular formula. Therefore an empirical formula and formula mass units are used.
Section 5- Extraction of Metals
1 An ore is a naturally occurring deposit that is a mixture of minerals and gangue from which a metal can be economically extracted. A mineral is a pure or nearly pure crystalline compound containing metals that naturally occur in Earths crust. 2 If a rock is to be classified as an ore, the cost of the extraction of the metal from the ore should be less than what the metal can be suitably sold for in the market. Cost of extraction includes the cost of mining, cost of transportation from mines to where the ore undergoes physical and chemical reactions and the cost of conducting the reactions themselves, such as froth flotation and electrolysis. 3 Ores are non-renewable as the rate of their extraction far exceeds the rate of their formation, which takes
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millions of years. Ore formation occurs from geological
processes, such as crystallization of molten rock or crystallization from hot aqueous solution and sedimentation, which take millions of years to occur. Human rate of extraction of these ores far exceeds at which they form in the Earths crust and therefore are nonrenewable. 4 As abundance of a metal on Earth decreases 5 A mineral from which copper is extracted is chalcopyrite. 6 The stronger a chemical bond is, the more energy required to break it. 10 The more active a metal is, the stronger the bonds it forms with other elements in compounds. This means, compounds of more active metals require more energy to break, as the bonds are stronger. Therefore the extraction method needs to provide more energy and therefore be more powerful to extract the metal from its compound. 11 Aluminium is a more active metal than copper and forms a stronger bond with oxygen in its oxide. Therefore, the separation of Aluminium from its oxide requires more energy (due to stronger bonds needed to be broken) than separation of Copper from its oxide. Roasting and smelting is able to provide sufficient energy to extract copper but is unable to extract Aluminium from its oxide, which only electrolysis can provide enough energy for. Therefore, electrolysis is used for the reduction of Aluminium and roasting and smelting for the reduction of copper. 13 The steps taken to recycle Aluminium include collecting, sorting and separating, preparation and finally remelting and refining. Collecting involves gathering Aluminum products from various sources, such as homes, offices and factories. Sorting and separating involves categorizing different Aluminium products for different uses and removing Iron from these products using a magnet. Preparation involves preparing the Aluminium
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into huge bales, which are remoulded/refined into usable products.
remelted
and
14 Recycling of Aluminium is entirely a physical process
whereas extraction of Aluminium from bauxite is a physical and chemical process. The chemical process involved in extraction from bauxite requires a large energy input, which is avoided in the recycling of Aluminium. Also, extraction from bauxite involves huge energy input in mining for the ore, which is saved in recycling. Together, these energy savings accounts for 91% less energy required to recycle Aluminium than to extract it from bauxite.