Extracting Metals Using Carbon Flashcards

1️⃣ Familiarise yourself with the flashcards:

  • Look through all the flashcards to see what's on both sides.
  • Make sure you understand the information on each card. If something's unclear, click the link to the revision notes at the bottom of the page for more details.

2️⃣ Test yourself:

  • Look at the question or prompt on each card and try to remember the answer before flipping it over.
  • Check the answer and make a note of any cards you find challenging and need to go over more.

3️⃣ Consistently Review and Practice:

  • Use spaced repetition: spend more time on the cards you struggle with and go over them more often.
  • Regularly review all the flashcards to help you better understand and retain the information over time.

Note: We may include questions that have multiple correct answers. It's useful to remember specific examples to understand these concepts better.

PERSONALISED 1-TO-1 TUTORING

Need more help on this topic? Get 1-to-1 support

Get support with clear explanations, practice and feedback (Ages 5 to 16).

  • DBS-checked tutors
  • Flexible times
  • Parents can be updated
Book a free 10-min call See pricing

Want an ad-free experience? Subscribe to remove ads

What is a metal ore?

A rock that contains enough of a metal compound to make it worth mining.

What does it mean to extract a metal from its ore?

To separate the metal from other substances in the ore, usually by a chemical reaction.

In terms of oxygen, what do reduction and oxidation mean?

Reduction is when a substance loses oxygen. Oxidation is when a substance gains oxygen.

How does carbon extract a metal from its oxide?

The metal oxide is heated with carbon. Carbon removes the oxygen, forming carbon dioxide and leaving the metal.

Which metals can be extracted from their oxides by heating with carbon?

Metals less reactive than carbon, such as zinc, iron, tin, lead and copper.

Why cannot metals more reactive than carbon be extracted using carbon?

They are too reactive, so carbon cannot remove oxygen from their oxides. They are usually extracted by electrolysis instead.

Write a word equation for extracting iron from iron(III) oxide using carbon.

Iron(III) oxide + carbon → iron + carbon dioxide.

In the reaction iron(III) oxide + carbon → iron + carbon dioxide, which substance is reduced and which is oxidised?

Iron(III) oxide is reduced to iron because it loses oxygen. Carbon is oxidised to carbon dioxide because it gains oxygen.

Why is extracting some metals using carbon cheaper than using electrolysis?

Carbon is cheap and heating a furnace uses less energy than the large amount of electricity needed for electrolysis.

Why are very unreactive metals like gold usually not extracted using carbon?

They are so unreactive that they are often found as pure metal in the Earth, so they do not need to be reduced by carbon.

Previous Lesson
Back to Lesson
Next Topic