Metals

Chapter 8
Science Standard : 10
Introduction
Total 114 elements in periodic table classifies into metal, non metal and
semi metals.

Metal Properties Application
Aluminium Light Metal
Thin and strong foil like paper can
be prepared
It does not get corroded
Used for packing food material
Filling vessels for cold drinks

Copper It is a good conductor of electricity
It is ductile material
Used for production of electric wires
Gold, Silver and
Platinum
Posses high lustre. Preparation of ornaments
Mercury (Liquid Metal) Uses in Thermometer
Lead Uses in preparation of pipes to get
protection from radiation.
Used in industries as a waterproof layer
around the walls of chimney.
Earth as a Treasure of Elements
Lithosphere : It formed of sand, clay and
stone in which metal elements like Aluminium,
Copper, Iron, Calcium, sodium etc. are in form
of oxide or sulphide.
Hydrosphere : Water of seas, rivers, lakes and
ice of polar regions are included. Non metals
like chlorine, fluorine and metal like sodium,
potassium, magnesium and calcium etc. are
obtained in the combined form.
Atmosphere : The cover of gases around the
earth is called atmosphere. Metallic gases like
nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide are mainly
present.
Ore
Various metals are larger proportion in earths crust.
Some are available in free from and some are available in combined form.
Metals which are less active, available in free from.
They are called Noble metals.
Example : Gold, Silver, Platinum etc.
Metals which are more active, available in combined form.
Example : Potassium, sodium, magnesium etc.
The inorganic elements or compounds which are available naturally from
earths crust are called minerals. If proportion of certain metal is more
and its extraction is advantageous, then the mineral is called ore.
Ores are in combined form of silicate, carbonate, oxide, phosphate,
sulphide etc.


Metallurgy
The metal separated from its ore is purified to make it more useful.
The process of separating metal from ore and purifying (refining) is
called metallurgy.
Process is divided into five steps
1. Powder from ore
2. Concentration of ore
3. Roasting, Calcination and Smelting
4. Reduction
5. Refining of metal

Metallurgy
Powdering of Ore : Bigger pieces of the ore which is obtained from
earth crust in powdered by grinding in big mills of special type.
Concentration of Ore : Impurities are removed and proportion or ore
is increased. This process is called concentration of ore.
Concentration or centrifugation of ore on the basis of density
difference.
Froth flotation
Magnetic separation
Metallurgy
Concentration or centrifugation of ore on the basis of density
difference.
Used when there is large density difference of ores and impurities.
Fine powder of ore is placed on a moving table with slots and it is
moved rapidly so the heavy particles remains in the slot because of
the centrifugal forces.

Metallurgy
Froth Flotation Method:
Use for the metals whose ores are in Sulphide
form.
Concentration of sulphide ores of copper, lead
and zinc metals are carried out by this method.
Method:
Fine powder of ore and water are filled in big
vessel.
Substances like pine or turpentine oil is added
to it.

Metallurgy
The sulphide particles of metals get wet and stick to
it while clay, sand do not get wetted.
In this liquid mixture air is passed with pressure
through tube.
Hence froth is produced around the light particles of
the sulphide ore and comes on the surface of the
liquid mixture.
Heavy particle like clay, sand etc. become wet by
water and settled down at bottom.
Sulphide ore of metal is remove with sieves in second
vessel and washed with water.
By this method ore like copper pyrites are
concentrated and clay, sand etc. are removed.
Metallurgy
Magnetic Separation
If iron impurities are there in ore, then the
fine powder of the ore is allowed to fall on
the leather belt.
There is a magnet at the one end of the belt
which attracts iron particles and fall nearer.
Remaining particles are not being attracted.
Thus by this method, impurity or iron is
removed from the ore.
Roasting, Calcination and Smelting:
Roasting : When sulphide containing ore is heated for a long time in
presence of excess air, it is converted into metal oxide.
This method of converting sulphide containing ore into metal oxide is
called roasting.

Metallurgy
Calcination
When carbonate containing ore is heated for a long time in absence
of air it is converted into metal oxide. This method of converting
carbonate containing ore into metal oxide is called calcination



Smelting : If ore is melted from then it is called smelting.

Metallurgy
Reduction:
Reduction is carried out to obtain metal from metal oxide.
The metal oxide is reacted with reducing agent like carbon or carbon
monoxide.
Also, any other reducing agent (metal) when reacted with metal
oxide, a more stable, oxide forming metal by attracting more
proportion oxygen, metal is obtained.
Metallurgy
When metal oxide is heated in blast furnace with carbon or carbon
monoxide, metal is obtained.
Metallurgy
When oxides of metal like chromium, iron, manganese are heated
with aluminium powder, metal is obtained by reduction of metal
oxide.

Metallurgy
Some metals cannot be obtained by reaction of carbon with oxide of
active metal.
Oxides of active metals like sodium, potassium, calcium, aluminium
cannot be reduced by carbon i.e. metals cannot be obtained by
carbon from their corresponding metal oxides, because these metals
posses more attraction towards oxygen than carbon.
So other method like electrochemical reduction method is used to
obtain metals from oxides of active metals.
In this method electrodes of inert metals like graphite or platinum are
used in electrochemical cell.

Metallurgy
By electrochemical reduction of alumina, molten aluminium is
obtained at cathode and di oxygen gas at anode.



Here cathode (negative pole) works as a reducing agent.
Metallurgy
Refining of Metals:
The metals obtained by the reduction method is not pure.
Method to obtain about 100% pure metal by removing impurities
present in very small amounts in metals is called refining.
Refining of metals carried out by three methods.
Electrolysis
Liquefaction
Zone refining
Metallurgy
Electrolysis:
Metals like copper, zinc, gold and silver are refined by this method.
Anode : rod of impure metal
Cathode : rod of pure metal
Aqueous solution of salt of metal is used for as electrolyte.
The metal in the proportion of being obtained by dissolution of anode, is added
to electrolyte, the same proportion metal is deposited at cathode.
As there is no impurity deposited at cathode, it is very pure.
Out of impurities added to electrolyte by dissolution of anode, soluble impurities
remains in the solution.
Insoluble impurities are collected at the bottom of the anode which is called
anodic mud.




Metallurgy
If cathode is refined by this method,
then rod of the impure copper is
arranged as anode.
Rod of pure copper as cathode.
Aqueous solution : Copper sulphate
+ Little dilute Sulphuric Acid
Electric current passed through
electrolyte.
Copper is dissolved from in solution
from anode and same proportion of
copper is deposited at the cathode.


Metallurgy
Liquefaction:
Used for the refining of metals which are
having low melting point i.e. metals like tin,
lead etc.
A furnace having slope is used.
Temperature of furnace is slightly higher than
melting point of metal.
When impure metal is passed on the slope,
metal is melted and collected in the vessel
kept below.
Melting point of impurities are higher so they
do not melt in this temperature and found in
solid on the slope.

Metallurgy
Zone Refining:
Impurities present in metals are removed by this method on basis
of principle of fractional crystallization.
Impurities remains more soluble in the form of molten metal.
As the molten metal gets cooled, the solubility of the impurities
decreases and separated from the metals in the form of crystals, semi
metals like silicon, boron, germanium are used as semiconductors.

Metallurgy
Extraction of Aluminium from Bauxite
Aluminium is extracted from bauxite
Extraction process in two steps.
Bauxite ore to Alumina to Aluminium (By electrochemical method).
Step 1 : To obtain alumina from bauxite ore.
In bauxite in addition to aluminium oxide other impurities like iron oxide and
sand are also present.
On refining bauxite from Bayers method, pure aluminium oxide is obtained
which is called alumina.
In this method, bauxite powder + 45% concentrated sodium hydroxide solution is
added and heated in closed vessel at 433 K, at 5 to 6 bar pressure for 6 to 8
hours, so that aluminium oxide present in bauxite is converted into sodium
aluminate which is soluble in water.


Iron oxide does not dissolve in sodium hydroxide. Hence it can be
removed by filtration.
Silica from sodium silicate which is soluble in water.
Sodium aluminate and sodium silicate are there in filtrate.
Excess of water is added to it and continuously stirred so that
hydrolysis of sodium aluminate is takes place and precipitates of
aluminium hydroxide are obtained.


Extraction of Aluminium from Bauxite
The precipitates are washed repeatedly with water, dried and on
heating 1473 K temperature pure aluminium oxide (alumina) is
obtained.
Extraction of Aluminium from Bauxite
(2) To obtain alumina to aluminium by electrochemical method.
Invented by Charles Martin Hall and Paul Heroult so it is known as
Hall-Heroult method.
Electric current cannot pass through solid form of Alumina.
Also melting point of the Alumina is 2348 K which is very high.
Hence Cryolite (Na
2
AlF
6
)

is added so that electrolysis is carried out
easily.
Mixture works as a better electric conductor than melted alumina.
The melting point can be brought still lower by feldspar (CaF
2
).

Extraction of Aluminium from Bauxite
Mixture of alumina+cryolite+feldspar in
the vessel of iron having inner surface
layered with carbon.
Anode : Rods of carbon joined with copper
clamp.
Cathode : Carbon layered graphite is
cathode
On passing electric current molten
aluminium is deposited on cathode and di-
hydrogen gas is produced at anode.
The molten aluminium collected at the
bottom are taken out.

Extraction of Aluminium from Bauxite
Extraction of Iron by Blast Furnace
Iron used by long time
Second position amongst the elements available in most abundance on the
earth.
Iron reacts rapidly with moisture and air so it is not available in free state.
It is obtained in its oxide form Haematite and Magnetite, in carbonate form
siderite and in sulphide form iron pyrites.
Iron is mostly obtained by reduction of haematite in blast furnace.
Blast furnace is narrow in upper part, wide in middle part and narrow in
bottom part.
Inner wall are prepared from fireproof bricks.
Hot air is blown from the bottom part of blast furnace.


Blast Furnace
Most impurities in the hematite are removed.
Concentrated ore is added into blast furnace with the
help of hopper with coke and lime stone.
Because of high temperature in blast furnace, certain
reaction are takes places and molten iron is obtained.
Slag is formed during the reaction and it is lighter than
iron and it is removed by different part at the bottom.
Molten iron cools down to solid form by cooling and
iron blocks are prepared.
Slag is changing into solid by cooling and useful in
construction of rods.

Extraction of Iron by Blast Furnace
Extraction of Iron by Blast Furnace
Activity Series of Metals
The metals which loses electrons easily and form ions are called more active
metals. Example Fe
The metals which do not lose electrons easily are called less active metals.
Example Au
The comparison of activity of metal can be done by comparison of reaction with
oxygen, water and acid
But all the metals do not give these reactions, so for determination of the activity
of the metal, displacement reaction is used.
Displacement reaction principle : Less active metal can be displaced from
solution of its salt by more active metals.
Example : If piece of zinc metal is placed in a solution of copper sulphate, it
becomes light blue coloured and at the end becomes colourless and red brown
coloured layer of copper is deposited on the piece of zinc metal. If it is kept for
longer time period, grains of the red brown coloured are obtained at the bottom.