Chemistry-Grade 10B-ppt 7-Extraction of metals

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OBJECTIVES:

How are metals extracted?
Metal extraction is a large and important industry.
What positive and negative impacts does it have?

Why are metals extracted?
Most metals are found in the Earth’s
crust combined with other elements in
rocks known as ores.
For example, iron is found combined
with oxygen in ore called haematite
Metals need to be extracted from ores

before they can be turned into useful
products, such as cars or cutlery.

What methods are used to extract metals?
Extraction methods vary for different metals.
Gold and other unreactive metals occur
native. Metals that are found in the ground
as un combined elements do not require
further extraction.
Most metals are found combined with other elements, as
compounds in ores. These metals need to be separated
from the other elements that they are combined with using
chemical reactions.
There are two main ways of extracting metals from their ores:
 electrolysis
 burning ores with carbon displacement (reduction)
How do mining companies decide which method to use?

How does reactivity affect extraction?
The reactivity of a metal determines how it is extracted.
potassium Metals above carbon in the
sodium reactivity series must be
calcium extracted using electrolysis.
magnesium Electrolysis can also be
increasing reactivity
aluminium used to purify copper.

(carbon)
zinc Metals less reactive than
iron carbon can be extracted from
lead their ores by reduction using
(hydrogen) carbon, coke or charcoal.
copper Platinum, gold, silver and
silver
copper can occur native and
gold
do not need to be extracted.
platinum
Why and how is aluminium extracted?
Aluminium is one of the most
useful metals in the world.
Electrolysis is used to extract
aluminium from its ore. Why
is it not possible to extract
aluminium by heating its ore
with carbon?
Aluminium ore (bauxite) has a very high

melting point (2000 °C).
For electrolysis, the ore is dissolved in
a compound called cryolite (Na3AlF6),
which lowers the melting point to 900 °C
1000 °C .
Why is aluminium extracted by
electrolysis?
• Aluminium is extracted from its oxide using
electrolysis because of its reactivity.
• Sometimes, carbon can be used to extract metals
from their ores.
• However, for this to happen, the metal you want to
extract must be less reactive than carbon, so that a
displacement reaction can take place.
• If the metal is more reactive than carbon, like
aluminium is, then electrolysis is used.
• This is a key reason why aluminium is so expensive!
• Electrolysis uses a large amount of electricity, and
so a lot of electricity is needed to use electrolysis
to extract aluminium.
•

Extraction of aluminium from bauxite
You can see from the reactivity series that aluminium

is above carbon in the reactivity series.
Bauxite is the main ore from which aluminium is
extracted. Aluminium is higher in the reactivity series
than carbon, so it cannot be extracted by reduction
using carbon.
Instead, the extraction of aluminium metal is by
electrolysis.

Extracting aluminium – redox equations
What redox processes occur at the
electrodes during the electrolysis
of aluminium oxide (Al2O3)?
At the negative electrode:
Al3+ + 3e-  Al (reduction)
At the positive electrode:
2O2-  O2 + 4e- (oxidation)
What is the overall equation for the extraction of aluminium
by electrolysis?
aluminium oxide  aluminium + oxygen

2 Al2O3 (l)  4 Al (l) + 3 O2 (g)

Formative assessment:

Continued from previous slide

Answers

What is reduction?
Metals are often found combined with oxygen as oxides.
To obtain the metal, the oxygen must be removed.
The removal of oxygen from a substance is called reduction.
metal oxide (in ore)

reduction
metal
Carbon can be used to extract metals by reduction.

carbon
lead oxide + carbon  lead + monoxide
PbO + C  Pb + CO
In this reaction, the carbon removes oxygen from lead oxide.

This occurs because carbon is more reactive than lead.
The addition of oxygen to a substance is called oxidation.

Which metals does carbon reduce?
potassium A metal can be reduced by carbon if it

sodium is less reactive than carbon and so
calcium appears below carbon in the reactivity
magnesium series.
aluminium Certain metals, such as iron, can be
(carbon) only be reduced using carbon if they
zinc are heated to very high temperatures.
iron
lead If a metal is more reactive than carbon,
(hydrogen) other chemical reactions and processes
copper must be used in its extraction.
silver Using the reactivity series, can you name
gold a metal that cannot be extracted from its
platinum ore using carbon?

Extraction of iron from hematite
The extraction
of iron metal
from iron ore
uses a blast
furnace, a huge
tower used to
extract iron
from its ore,
hematite. A
modern blast
furnace
operates
24 hours a day
and can make
approximately
10,000 tonnes
The process can be broken down into following
steps:
•Making carbon dioxide by burning carbon (in the
form of coke)
•Turning the carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide
•Using carbon monoxide to reduce iron(III)oxide to
iron
•Decomposition of calcium carbonate
•Formation of slag
The word equations for these reactions are:
•carbon + oxygen → carbon dioxide
•carbon + carbon dioxide → carbon monoxide
•iron(III) oxide + carbon monoxide → iron +
carbon dioxide
•Calcium Carbonate → Calcium oxide +
carbon dioxide

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Metals need to be extracted from ores

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aluminium used to purify copper.

Aluminium ore (bauxite) has a very high

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You can see from the reactivity series that aluminium

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aluminium oxide  aluminium + oxygen

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metal oxide (in ore)

Carbon can be used to extract metals by reduction.

In this reaction, the carbon removes oxygen from lead oxide.

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potassium A metal can be reduced by carbon if it

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