Topic 10 Metals

IGCSE Chemistry (0620)

 Physical properties of metals

— They are shiny.

— They are malleable and ductile.
— They have high density
— They are sonorous.

— They are magnetic.

— Examples: Iron, cobalt and nickel.
— Not all metals are magnetic!
— They are electrical and thermal conductors.
— ALL can be explained by Metallic BONDING!

— Presence of free (delocalized) electrons

— Provide conductivities to metals
— Close packed structure à high density
Comparison of metals and
non-metals
Metals Non-metals

Appearance Shiny Dull

Electrical and
All are Conductors Most are Insulators
Thermal
Conductivity
Density Most are high Most are low
m.p and b.p.
Most are high Most are low
Ductility
yes No
Malleability yes No
Uses of aluminium and copper

metal uses properties

aluminium overhead electricity good electrical conductivity, low density,

cables ductile, resists corrosions

aircraft low density, resists corrosions

food containers and resists corrosions, non-toxic, malleable

drinks cans
copper electrical wiring good electrical conductivity, ductile

water pipes inside does not corrode readily, malleable

home
 Alloy
— Definition
¡ A mixture of a metal with at least one other element.
¡ Formed by heating a mixture of metals or non-metals
together

new atoms enter the metal lattice

— Regular giant metallic structure of atoms are distorted
because of the new atoms enter the metal lattice

Results:
¡ layers of atoms slide less easily

÷ Harder and stronger

÷ Less malleable and ductile
¡ Mobile electrons pass through metallic structure with
more difficulty
÷ Lower electrical and thermal conductivity

*More corrosion resistant

— Uses
¡ Mild steel (Fe and C)
¡ Stainless steel ( Fe, and other metals e.g chromium, nickel )

¡ Brass (Cu and Zn) – hard, golden appearance, resist

corrosion, easy to shape, musical instrument,
ornaments
¡ Bronze (Cu and Tin) – hard, resist corrosion, coins,

statues, propellers for ships

¡ typical aluminium alloy (Al, Zn, Mg, Cu) – light but
strong, resist corrosion, aircraft, spacecraft

¡ Gold alloys – Carat Gold, ornament and jewellery

 Chemical Properties of metals
— Reaction with oxygen
— General Equation:
— Metal + oxygen à Metal oxide
— Example:
— Sodium + oxygen à sodium oxide
— calcium burns to give a brick-red flame
and produce a white powder when it is
heated

— magnesium burns to give bright white

flame and produce a white powder when
it is heated.
— However, some metals do not burn in oxygen but react
slowly……

Copper
Iron

Copper
oxide

Rusty Iron
(iron oxide)
— Some metals are inert to oxygen.
— Silver only tarnishes (lose brightness) VERY SLOWLY.
— Gold and Platinum never react with oxygen.

Gold

Platinum
Silver
Key Points of Oxidation of metals
— Major product is metal oxide
— Most metal oxides are white in colour with some exception.
¡ Copper oxide (Black)
¡ Iron oxide (orange)

— Some metals burn with characteristic flame

¡ Potassium (lilac)

— Gold (Au) and Platinum (Pt) do NOT react with oxygen.

Reaction with water (l)
— General Equation:
— Metal + water à Metal hydroxide + hydrogen
— Example:
— potassium + water à potassium hydroxide + hydrogen

group 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI__JY7pqOM
calcium
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMqPKQKamhk
— Only a few metals can react with cold water
¡ Potassium, Sodium and Calcium
— Some metals react with steam instead of water.
¡ Magnesium, Aluminium, Zinc and Iron

¡ Metal + steam à Metal oxide + hydrogen

¡ A special setup is used:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYbXZOg0id0
— Some metals cannot react with neither steam nor water.
¡Example: Lead, Mercury, Copper, Silver and Gold
à water pipes are made of copper
Key points of metal reaction with water
Metal Reaction with water
Potassium, K
metals react with cold water
Sodium, Na
Metal + water (l) à metal hydroxide + hydrogen
Calcium, Ca
Magnesium, Mg
Aluminium, Al heated metals react with steam
Zinc, Zn Metal + water (g) à metal oxide + hydrogen
Iron, Fe
Lead, Pb
Copper, Cu
Mercury, Hg
heated metals do not react with water or steam
Silver, Ag
Platinum, Pt
Gold, Au
Reaction with dilute acid (HCl)
— General Equation:
¡ Metal + acid à Metal salt + hydrogen

¡ Salt formed depends on type of acid used

— Example:
— magnesium+ hydrochloric acid à magnesium chloride +
hydrogen

Try out:
Zinc
Iron
— Reactive metals:
¡ Lithium, sodium, potassium (Group 1 metal)
— NEVER add them to acid!

— However, some metals can be inert to acid.

Cu Hg Au Ag
— A series based on the difference in reactivity of metals.
H
K Na Ca Mg Al Zn Fe Pb Cu Hg Ag Pt Au

Most Reactive Least Reactive

*reactivity series is related to the tendency of a metal to form its positive ion
i.e. how easily a metal atom loses e to form positive ion,
for example, potassium is very reactive because it has only one valence
electron, so it is very easy to lose it forming a positive ion.
Class practices

1. Potassium + water à ________ + __________

2. Calcium + _______à hydrogen + Calcium hydroxide
3. Magnesium + steamà ________ + __________
4. Copper + dilute HClà ________ + __________
5. Sodium + oxygen à __________
6. Zinc + dilute hydrochloric acid à ______ + _______
7. ________+ _______à Aluminium oxide
8. ________+ _______àiron oxide + hydrogen
 Metal Reactivity Series
Displacement Reactions
— Definition:
¡ A MORE reactive metal will displace a LESS reactive
metal compound.
— Type of Displacement:
¡ Solid Displacement

÷ A MORE reactive solid metal displaces a LESS

reactive solid metal from its metal oxide
¡ Solution Displacement

÷ A MORE reactive solid metal displaces a LESS

reactive aqueous metal from its salt solution.
— Solid Displacement Example: Thermite Reaction
— Equation:
¡ Aluminium + iron(III) oxideà Aluminium oxide + iron
¡ More reactive aluminium displaces a less reactive
metal iron from its metal oxide
¡ Application: Source of molten iron for railway work
(thermite welding for joining rails )
¡ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXp3aRKO4Yc
— Solution Displacement Example: Silver Tree Reaction
— Equation:
¡ Copper + silver nitrate à copper (II) nitrate + silver
¡ Observation: solution turns blue

¡ Application: Comparing the reactivity of different

metals

More example:
Magnesium + copper(II) sulphate à magnesium sulphate + copper
Silver + copper(II) nitrate à no reaction
Thermal Decomposition of metal carbonates
— Equation:
metal carbonate à metal oxide + carbon dioxide
¡

¡ E.g. Calcium carbonate à Calcium oxide + carbon

dioxide
¡ Decomposition temp. for Group II carbonates:

Carbonates Mg Ca Sr Ba
Temperature/o C 540 900 1280 1360

¡Except carbonates of sodium and potassium, all

others decompose to metal oxide and carbon
dioxide.
¡ Group (I) metal compounds are more STABLE to heat.
(except Li)
Something special about
aluminium !!! Why aluminium shows a lack of
reactivity although it is consider as
moderately reactive?

— aluminium reacts with oxygen in air to form aluminium

oxide
— aluminium oxide layer sticks strongly to the surface of
aluminium and does not flake off
— Prevent aluminium beneath from further oxidation
 Extraction of metal
— Most metals combine with other elements to form
compounds in rocks.
— The rocks from which we obtain metals are called ores.

Bauxite — main ore of aluminium,

mostly aluminium oxide, Al2O3.

Hematite — main ore of iron,

mostly iron(III) oxide Fe2O3.
— Need to extract metals from ores to make them
useful
• Mechanical separation
• Heating metal ore alone
• Heating metal ore with carbon
• Electrolysis

— Methods used depends of metal’s reactivity

K Na Ca Mg Al Zn Fe Pb Cu Hg Ag Pt Au

Reactive metals form more stable compounds, more difficult to decompose,

need more powerful and expensive extraction methods.
— Mechanical Separation
¡ Panning of gold
— Heating metal ore alone
silver oxide ® silver + oxygen
¡ Silver and mercury brownish silvery
¡ Example: Heating silver oxide black

glowing splint

glowing splint
relighted
silver
oxide
— Heating metal ore with carbon (carbon reduction)
¡ Zinc, iron and copper
¡ Example: Heating iron(III) oxide with carbon at high
temperature to form iron
¡ Iron(III) oxide + carbon à iron + carbon dioxide

2Fe2O3 (s) + C (s) à 4Fe (s) + 3CO2 (g)

Electrolysis heating with carbon

K Na Ca Mg Al C Zn Fe Cu Ag Au
Extraction of Iron (blast furnace)
1

4
7

2
3 C + O2 à CO2
CO2 + C à 2CO

8
5
 Extraction of Iron from hematite, Fe2O3
(blast furnace)
1 • Iron ore, coke (almost pure carbon) and limestone are
added into a blast furnace
2 • Hot air (not oxygen) enters from bottom and goes to top of
furnace
3 • Oxygen reacts with coke to form CO2, which reacts again
with more coke to form CO
C + O2 à CO2. exothermic reaction, to provide heat to the furnace
CO2 + C à 2CO endothermic reaction
4 • CO is a reducing agent, turning iron(III) oxide into iron
3CO(g) + Fe2O3(s) à 2Fe(l) + 3CO2(g)
5 • Molten iron runs to the bottom of the furnace and then runs
off
 Use of Limestone CaCO3 to remove impurities
Decompose to produce calcium oxide CaO (basic oxide)
6 CaCO3 à CaO + CO2 (thermal decomposition)

which will react with the sand (impurity) (silicon dioxide SiO2 ,
acidic oxide) in the ore to produce calcium silicate CaSiO3.

7 CaO + SiO2 à CaSiO3 (slag formation)

8 calcium silicate forms slag which runs down the furnace and
floats on the iron is drained off.

https://www.chemguide.co.uk/inorganic/extraction/iron.html
http://pmt.physicsandmathstutor.com/download/Chemistry/GCSE/Notes/CIE-IGCSE/10-Metals/Set-
A/10.3.%20Extraction%20of%20metals.pdf
 From Iron to Steel
— Freshly extracted iron (95% purity) is not good for use:
¡ Impurities (silicon, carbon, sulphur, phosphorous) make iron very brittle.

¡ Pure iron (100%) is too soft for applications and rust easily

¡ Solution à Transformation to Steel

¡ Unwanted impurities are removed before the iron is used to make steel

1. Removal of impurities by oxidations, e.g. Carbon is the main impurity,

which is removed by blowing oxygen through molten iron, CO2 produced
escape as a gas. (sulphur is removed as SO2, phosphorus is removed as
P2O5)
2. Removal of SiO2 (acidic oxides) by adding CaO, this gives slag and then
removed by density.

¡ Adjust the additives (carbon, chromium and nickel) to the right

compositions to make steel
 From Iron to Steel (alloys of iron)
Mild steel – iron and about 0.3% carbon
• Hard and strong, use for buildings, ships, car bodies and
machinery (washing machine, etc.)

Stainless steel – iron, chromium and nickel

• Hard and rustproof, use for cutlery and surgical
instruments.

different sized atoms

distort the layers in
the structure
more difficult to slide
Pure iron over each other ->
harder
layers of atoms can
slide over each other
-> soft
— Electrolysis (e.g. extraction of aluminium from bauxite, Al2O3)
¡ Potassium, sodium, calcium and aluminium
¡ Pass electricity through molten metal ore
electricity
aluminium oxide aluminium + oxygen

Carbon anode
(+ electrodes)

Carbon cathode
(− electrode)

tapping hole molten aluminium

aluminium oxide dissolved in molten cryolite

Aluminium oxide is dissolved in molten cryolite (this melts at
about 1012 , much lower than MP of Al2O3, save cost

• Cathode (-): Al 3+ ions gain electrons and are reduced to Al

4Al3+ (l) +12e à 4Al (l)
• Anode (+): O2- loses electrons and is oxidised to O2
6O2- (l) à 3O2 (g) + 12e

• Overall reaction: 2Al2O3(l) à 4Al (l) + 3O2 (g)

• Carbon Anodes must be replaced regularly because O2

released reacts with carbon anode
C (s) à O2 (g) + CO2(g)
 Transition metals

— Middle of the Periodic Table

— Unique properties compared with other main Group
metals.
— Physical
¡ Higher density

¡ Stronger

¡ Higher melting point and boiling point

— Chemical properties +2 in Mn2+
¡ Having more than 1 charge (variable oxidation states) +3 in Mn2O3
+4 in MnO2
¡ Form coloured compound
+6 in MnO42-
¡ Catalytic properties (good catalytic activity for both
+7 in MnO4-
transition elements and compounds of transition elements)

¡ Generally less reactive than main Group

metals
Colour of transition metal ions in aqueous solution
Transition Metal Ion Color
Co2+ pink
Cu2+ Blue or green
Fe2+ pale green
Ni2+ bright green
Fe3+ Yellow or brown
Cr2O72- dichromate ion orange
Cr3+ green
Mn2+ pale pink
-
MnO4 permanganate ion purple
Zn2+ colorless
Applications of metals

Copper
• electrical wiring
• in cooking utensils

Aluminium
• aircraft
• food containers
• power cable
 Corrosion of metals
Corrosion:
• Metal reacts with air, water or other substances in the
surroundings
• Leading to gradual deterioration of the metal

When metal article corroded

1. No longer shiny
2. No longer function properly
Rusting: corrosion of iron.
A slow chemical process.

For rusting to occur, two things must be present: water and oxygen.

Overall reaction:
4Fe(s) + 3O2(g) + 2H2O(l) ® 2Fe2O3ŸH2O(s)
rust (reddish brown)
Rust formed often either flakes off or is porous to both air
and water.
anhydrous
calcium
chloride

cotton
wool oil layer
Boiled
water
iron nail water

Tube 1 Tube 2 Tube 3

rusting occurs
no rusting
How to prevent iron from rusting?

Applying a protective layer

keep out water, oxygen or both
 Protecting iron
1. Coating with paint, plastic, oil or grease
Objects unlikely to be scratched can be coated with paint.
2. Coating with another metal
Coated iron with a thin layer of corrosion resistant metal to
avoid direct contact with air and oxygen.
— To protect iron by galvanization
— Dip iron into molten zinc
— Block off water and oxygen
— This kind of protection against
rusting is called sacrificial protection.
broken surface zinc coating

oxygen reacts with

zinc instead of
iron — no rusting

iron
 zinc coating
zinc
broken surface

oxygen and water oxygen reacts with

iron cannot reach iron, no zinc instead of
rusting occurs iron
iron — no rusting
— Sacrificial protection
— Zinc is more reactive than iron
àHigher tendency to lose electron
— Zinc loses electron and prevent iron from losing electrons
Zn àZn2+ + 2e-
— Need to replace zinc block periodically
During rusting, Fe(s) loses electrons to form Fe2+ ions (aq)

Connect iron to a more reactive metal, the more reactive

metal lose electrons in preference to iron
2+
Prevent Fe(s) from forming Fe (aq) ions.
Zinc is ‘sacrificed’ to ‘save’ iron
Galvanizing is not used in making food cans because zinc
ions are toxic.
Iron coated with tin.
used in making food cans since
tin and tin ions are not poisonous.
What if tin is scratch?
iron will rust more quickly
Iron will sacrificially protect the tin
A thin layer of metal is plated on an
object.
Chromium is a common metal to be
electroplated on iron.

Advantage:
object has a beautiful shiny appearance
Disadvantage:
quite expensive