Getting Metals from Rocks

Question 1

Name an un reactive metal found in the earth

Answer 1

Gold.

Question 2

What do ores contain?

Answer 2

Enough metal to make extraction worthwhile.

Question 3

What is a metal ore?

Answer 3

Is a rock which contains enough metal to make it worthwhile extracting the metal from it.

Question 4

The ore is what of the metal?

Answer 4

Ore is an OXIDE of the metal.

Question 5

EG what is the main aluminium ore called?

Answer 5

Bauxite.

Aluminium oxide.

Question 6

How are most metals extracted from their ores?

Answer 6

Using a chemical reaction.

Question 7

What can change over time?

Answer 7

Economics.

Profitability.

Question 8

What happens if the market price of a metal drops alot?

Answer 8

Might not be worth extracting.

Question 9

What happens if the markets price of a metal increases a lot?

Answer 9

It might be worth extracting more of it.

Question 10

What happens when technology improves?

Answer 10

It becomes possible to extract more metal from a sample of rock than what was originally possible.

Question 11

How can a metal be extracted from its ore chemically?

Answer 11

By reduction.

Or electrolysis.

Question 12

Some ores have to do what before the metal is extracted?

Answer 12

Concentrated.

Question 13

What does it mean by concentrated?

Answer 13

Getting rid of the unwanted rocky material.

Question 14

How can electrolysis also be used?

Answer 14

To purify the extracted metal.

Question 15

How can some metals be extracted?

Answer 15

By reduction with carbon.

Question 16

What happens when an ore is reduced?

Answer 16

Oxygen is removed.

Question 17

How can you tell if a metal can be extracted by reduction with carbon?

Answer 17

From its position in the reactivity series.

Question 18

What happens to the metals higher than carbon in the reactivity series?

Answer 18

They have to be extracted using electrolysis.

Which is expensive.

Question 19

What happens to the metals below carbon in the reactivity series?

Answer 19

They can be extracted by reduction using carbon.

Question 20

Give an example of a metal lower than carbon on the reactivity series, how is it reduced?

Answer 20

Iron oxide is reduced in a blast furnace to make iron.

Question 21

How are metals below carbon extracted by reduction using CARBON?

Answer 21

Because carbon can only take the oxygen away from the metals which are less reactive than carbon itself.

Question 22

Name the metals extracted using electrolysis.

Answer 22

Potassium.
Sodium.
Calcium.
Magnesium.
Aluminium.

Question 23

Name the metals extracted by reduction using carbon.

Answer 23

Zinc.
Iron.
Tin.
Copper.

Question 24

Extracting metal isn’t what?

Answer 24

Cheap.

Question 25

What do you have to pay for when extracting metal?

Answer 25

Special equipment.
Energy.
Labour.