C1.3 Metals and their uses Flashcards
Ores contain enough metal to make it…
…economical to extract the metal
What is the economical problem with extraction of ores?
The economics of extraction may change over time
What must happen to an ore before the metal is extracted and purified?
Ores are mined and may be concentrated
What metal is found as itself in the earth?
Gold
Most metals in the earth are not pure. What are they found as and what must happen to extract the metal?
As compounds
Require chemical reactions to be extracted.
What kind of metals can be extracted from their oxides by reduction with carbon?
Metals that are less reactive than carbon
How is iron oxide separated?
The blast furnace
How are metals more reactive than carbon extracted from their oxides?
Electrolysis of molten compounds
What are 2 disadvantages of electrolysis?
- Uses large amounts of energy
- (The above) makes the metals expensive
How can copper can be extracted from copper-rich ores? (2)
- Heating the ores in a furnace (SMELTING)
- Copper purified by electrolysis
- *COPPER -RICH ORES ARE LIMITED**
What are two disadvantages of smelting copper? (2)
- Copper’s extracted from ore by chemical processes=HEAT AND ELECTRICITY
- Copper-rich ores being DEPLETED but traditional mining/extraction have big environmental impact
How are we trying to limit the environmental impact of traditional mining?
Researching new ways of extracting copper from low-grade ores
Other than smelting, what two ways can also be used to extract copper?
- Phytomining
- Bioleaching
How does phytomining work? (3)
- Uses PLANTS to ABSORB metal compounds
- Plants are BURNED to produce ASH that contains the metal compound
- SMELT the bio-ore to yield metal
How does bioleaching work?
Uses bacteria to produce solutions that contain metal compounds
