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Rohan Maheshwari

Metals Summary Notes Guide


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.

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