Extracting Iron Flashcards
What is the purpose of coke? (Carbon)
Reducing the iron oxide to iron metal
What are the raw materials used when extracting iron?
Iron ore, coke and limestone
What is the purpose of limestone?
Take away impurities in form of slag
What is the first step to extracting iron?
Hot air is blasted in the furnace making coke burn quickly
Temperature at about 1500c
What is the second step to extracting iron?
Coke burns and produces carbon dioxide
What is the third step to extracting iron?
The carbon dioxide reacts with the unburnt coke to form carbon monoxide
What is the forth step to extracting iron?
Carbon monoxide reduces the iron ore to iron
What is step 5 to extracting iron
Iron is molten and dense so it runs to the bottom where it’s tapped off
What are the 3 steps in order to remove the impurities when extracting iron?
1) limestone removes sand (silicon dioxide)
2) limestone decomposed by heat into calcium oxide
3) calcium oxide then reacts with the sand to form slag which is molten and tapped off
What is the use of slag once it’s tapped off? (2)
Solid slag is used for road building and fertiliser
What are the properties of iron and aluminium? (5)
Dense High melting point Strong Malleable Good conductor of electricity and heat energy
What are the uses of iron? (2)
Wrought iron is malleable and makes gates and railings
Mix iron with other elements to make alloys- cast iron for manhole covers and steel for car bodies
What is the only problem with iron?
It corrodes/rusts easily
What is used instead of iron (because it rusts)
Stainless steel (alloy) used for knives and cooking pans as it doesn’t rust
