Metals - A0S 1 - Chapter 4

Easy

Properties Of Iron

Soft, malleable, conductive, thermal conductor, forms alloys

Uses of Iron

Buildings, machines, vehicles, infrastructure (coated with non-corrosive material as it can corrode)

Properties Of Aluminium

low density, soft, malleable, ductile, can form alloys, excellent conductor.

Properties Of Titanium

High density, low boiling point, readily forms alloys

Properties Of Gold

Shiny, good electrical and thermal conductor, unreactive, can form alloys.

General Properties Of Metals

High density

High melting points

Good thermal and electrical conductors

Malleable

Ductile

High Tensile Strength

Lustrous

Low ionization energies

Transition Metals vs. Main group metals

Transition Metals are harder, higher densities and melting points, stronger magnetic properties

Cations

Metals loose electrons to become positively charged

Model Of Metallic Bonding

Limitations Of Bonding Model

Range of melting points, hardness of different metals

Differences in electrical conductivity amongst metals

Magnetic nature

Metal + Oxide

Metal Oxide (usually in the prescence of heat)

Mineral

Natural occurring Substance from where the element is extracted (as an ore)

Table Of Reactive Metals

“Please Stop Calling Me A Zebra, I like Cute Silly Goofy Penguins.”

In-situ leaching

Pumping injections and retrieving the metals in a liquid form, by bringing them up to the surface.

Electrolysis

Passing an electrical current through the metal to retrieve it - requires a lot of lot electricity to do so.

Smelting

Melting the ore components of the mineral to retrieve the original mineral.

Things Affected By Mining

Land, Water, Air, Biodiversity

Linear Economy

Retrieval of minerals - manufacture - use - dispose

Circular economy

Reusing and recycling materials for further use

Reasons for circular economy

Resources becoming scarcer

Prices of resources are becoming larger

In order to reduce carbon footprint

Increasing demand for new products with not enough reasources

Blast Furnace

Used To Extract Iron from Iron Ore

Parts Of Recycling

Collection

Preparation for recovery (sorting)

Smelting

Purification

Ferrous Vs. Non-ferrous

Ferrous: Contains iron, steel

Non-ferrous: Other metals

Primary Smelter Vs. Secondary Smelter

Primary Smelter: Used to extract metal from their natural/ore state

Secondary Smelter: Designed specifically to smelt scrap metal

Energy saved by recycling aluminum

95%

Group 1 metal properties

very reactive

try to loose the one electron

react vigorously with water

very soft, low density

low melting point and lustrous

Group 2 metal properties (earth metals)

reactivity with water increases down a group

higher melting point than group 1 metals

more stronger than group 1 metals

Transition Metals Properties

not very reactive

• High melting and boiling points (generally, much higher than Group 1 and 2).

• High densities.

• Hard and strong.

• Excellent conductors of heat and electricity.

• Lustrous (e.g., copper's reddish luster, gold's yellow luster).

Post Transition Metals

Physical Properties:

• Softer than transition metals.

• Lower melting points than transition metals.

• Lower densities than most transition metals.

• Can be brittle (e.g., bismuth) or relatively soft (e.g., lead).

• Often exhibit some covalent character in their bonds.

• Some can be amphoteric (react with both acids and strong bases, like Aluminum).

Why Can’t Covalent Compounds Conduct Electricity

Don’t have free moving particles

Fixed particles

Why are metals malleable, ductile

have more attractive forces in between particles than repulsive forces

Why Are metals shiny

have delocalised electrons

why do metals have hard/high boiuling points

Force between particles are strong

How are metals insoluble

energy required to break bonds> energy released when ions are hydrated

Thermal Conductivity

the ability to transfer heat

Thermal Conductivity among the materials

Type	Thermal Conductivity	Electrical Conductivity

Ionic Lattice

Moderate (when solid), good (molten)

❌ Solid: No ✅ Molten/Aqueous: Yes

Covalent Compound

Poor

❌ No

Covalent Lattice

❌ Most: Poor ✅ Graphite: Good

❌ Most: No ✅ Graphite: Yes

Metallic Lattice

✅ Excellent

✅ Excellent

Why Is Covalent lattices bad at thermal conductivity

No delocalised electrons

Atoms are too far apart to vibrate and hit one another, thus transferring energy

“ate” vs ‘“ite” vs “ide"

🔁 Summary Table

Suffix	When used	Example
-ide	Binary compound (2 elements only)	Sodium chloride
-ate	Polyatomic ion with more oxygen	Nitrate (NO₃⁻)
-ite	Polyatomic ion with less oxygen	Nitrite (NO₂⁻)
per- -ate	Most oxygen in a series	Perchlorate (ClO₄⁻)
hypo- -ite	Least oxygen in a series	Hypochlorite (ClO⁻)

What Moves In Metals

On the valence electrons - the positive ions are fixed