Research on Metals

Research question:

  1. Describe metals and their ores.
  1. Discuss the relationship between the uses of metals and their reactivity.
  1. Evaluate the relationship between commercial prices of metals, their actual abundance and cost of production.
  1. Using aluminium, justify the need for increased recycling in our society relating to energy consumption, cost, environmental pollution etc.

1:

Metals:

Ores:

Properties:

Reflectivity

Heat and Electrical Conductors

Ductility

Malleability

Lustrous

Hardness

High melting and boiling points

Highly dense

Examples:

Iron (Fe)

Aluminium (Al)

Zinc (Zn)

Gold (Au)

Titanium (Ti)

Silver (Ag)

Type of rock that contains a large amount of a mineral.

Examples:

Magnesite (MgCO3)

Sphalerite (ZnS)

Bauxite (Al2O3)

Zincite (ZnO)

Cuprite (Cu2O)

2:

Metals Reactivity

Reactivity trends (Periodic Table)

Reactivity

3:

4:

Factors affecting price:

Reactivity increases down and across the periodic table

The top of the series can lose electrons more readily to form positive ions.

The tendency of an element to undergo chemical reaction to release energy.

Abundance

Cost of production

Aluminium/Gold/Copper

Aluminium

Gold

Cupper

Recycling Process

Collection

Sorting/Separation

Refining

Preparation

Increasing:

Extraction costs less

Produces less waste

Amal Alanazi