Extracting Metals Flashcards
What do ores contain?
Enough metal to make it economical to extract the metal
What may change overtime when extracting metals from their ores?
The economics of extraction
How do we get ores?
We mine them
What may ores be before the metal is extracted and purified?
Concentrated
How are unreactive metals such as gold found in the earth?
As a metal itself
What is an ore?
Metals found as compounds that require chemical reactions to extract the metal
What is reduction?
The removal of oxygen
How are metals less reactive than carbon extracted from their oxides?
By reduction with carbon
What is iron oxide reduced in to make iron?
A blast furnace
How are metals more reactive than carbon extracted?
Electrolysis
What state must metal compounds more reactive than carbon be in for electrolysis?
Molten
Why is extraction by electrolysis expensive?
It uses large amounts of energy
How can copper be extracted from copper rich ores?
Heating them in a furnace (smelting)- chemical processes that involve
How can copper be purified?
Electrolysis
The supply of copper rich ores is…
Limited
What do traditional mining and extraction methods of copper have major impacts on?
The environment
What new ways have been found of extracting copper from low grade ores?
Phytomining and bioleaching
What is phytomining?
Using plants to absorb metal compounds
What happens to the plants in phytomining?
They are burned to produce ash that contains metal compounds
What is bioleaching?
Using bacteria to produce leachate solutions, that contain metal compounds
Why have new ways of extracting copper from low-grade ores been researched?
To limit the environmental impact of traditional mining
What 2 ways can copper be obtained?
Displacement and electrolysis of solutions of copper salts
What is copper displaced by?
Scrap iron
Aluminium and titanium can not be extracted from their oxides by…
Reduction with carbon
What 2 reasons cause the current methods of extracting aluminium and titanium to be expensive?
Many stages in the processes, large amounts of energy are needed
Why should we recycle metals? 3
Extracting them uses limited resources, it’s expensive in terms of energy, and it has bad effects on the environment
