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Science Quiz - Chemistry - Extracting Unreactive Metals (AQA) (Questions)

Some metals are so unreactive they can be dug up almost pure. Discover how gold, platinum and other native metals are mined and separated from rocks.

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Fascinating Fact:

Unreactive metals like gold and platinum occur native, meaning they’re found as pure elements in rocks.

In GCSE Science (Chemistry), you learn that very unreactive metals can be found as native elements. They are separated from crushed rock rather than extracted by chemical reactions.

Key Terms

Unreactive metal: A metal that does not easily react with oxygen, water or acids, such as gold or platinum.
Native metal: A metal found in Earth’s crust as the pure element, not combined in a compound.
Ore: A rock that contains enough metal or metal compound to make extraction economically worthwhile.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

Where do unreactive metals sit in the reactivity series?

Unreactive metals such as gold, platinum and silver are found near the bottom of the reactivity series, because they do not easily form compounds with other elements.

Why do most metals need chemical extraction in GCSE Chemistry?

Most metals are reactive and exist as compounds in ores. They must be extracted using chemical methods, such as reduction with carbon or electrolysis, to obtain the pure metal.

What are some important uses of unreactive metals?

Unreactive metals are used where corrosion resistance matters, for example in jewellery, electrical contacts, dentistry and specialist equipment that must not rust or react easily.

Try These Related Quizzes

1.

What is the special name given to the process of extracting iron from iron ore in a blast furnace?

[ ]	Melting
[ ]	Smelting
[ ]	Welting
[ ]	Spelting

2.

Why can gold be found in the Earth's crust in its native state?

[ ]	Gold is very rare
[ ]	Gold is very unreactive
[ ]	Gold is more reactive than lead
[ ]	It came to Earth on meteorites

3.

Which of the following statements is correct?

[ ]	Iron oxide in a blast furnace is oxidised to form iron
[ ]	Iron oxide in a blast furnace is electrolysed to form iron
[ ]	Iron oxide in a blast furnace is melted to form iron
[ ]	Iron oxide in a blast furnace is reduced to form iron

4.

What is the main impurity in iron from a blast furnace?

[ ]	Carbon
[ ]	Oxygen
[ ]	Unreacted iron ore
[ ]	All of the above

5.

During the process of smelting, what happens to copper ore?

[ ]	It is oxidised
[ ]	It is reduced
[ ]	It is augmented
[ ]	It is increased

6.

Carbon can be used to remove the oxygen from copper oxide to leave the copper. This contains impurities including carbon. How is this copper purified?

[ ]	Filtration
[ ]	Centrifuging
[ ]	Electrolysis
[ ]	Double reduction

7.

It is said that by the middle of the 21^st century economical copper ores will have been used up. New ways of extracting copper from low-grade ores are being researched. One of these is called phytomining. What does phytomining involve?

[ ]	Using high powered lasers to blast the copper from the low grade ore
[ ]	Using plants to absorb the copper compounds from the ores then burning the plants
[ ]	Using the low grade ores with a mixture of chemicals that will dissolve the impurities
[ ]	Using radioactive filters to get rid of the impurities

8.

Another idea is to dump scrap iron into solutions of copper salts. How would this work?

[ ]	The iron would corrode which would push the copper out of solution
[ ]	The iron would take any oxygen from the salts leaving behind pure copper
[ ]	The iron would displace the copper from the salts
[ ]	The iron would be reduced which would cause the copper to be deposited all around the inside of the reaction vessel

9.

Bioleaching is yet another idea for getting metals that are less reactive than aluminium from very low grade ores and wastes. What organisms are used in this process?

[ ]	Protozoa
[ ]	Fish
[ ]	Leeches
[ ]	Bacteria and fungi

10.

The most common ore of tin is cassiterite, a form of tin oxide with the formula SnO₂. Which of the following is a balanced equation showing the extraction of tin from this ore?

[ ]	SnO₂ + 2C → 2CO₂ + Sn
[ ]	2SnO₂ + 2HCl → 2Sn + H₂O + 2ClO
[ ]	SnO₂ + H₂ → H₂O + Sn
[ ]	SnO₂ + C → CO₂ + Sn

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Metals and alloys - AQA

Science Quiz - Chemistry - Extracting Unreactive Metals (AQA) (Answers)

1.

What is the special name given to the process of extracting iron from iron ore in a blast furnace?

[ ]	Melting
[x]	Smelting
[ ]	Welting
[ ]	Spelting

Smelting is also applied to any metal extraction process involving heat and producing the molten metal

2.

Why can gold be found in the Earth's crust in its native state?

[ ]	Gold is very rare
[x]	Gold is very unreactive
[ ]	Gold is more reactive than lead
[ ]	It came to Earth on meteorites

Silver can also be found native, even though it is more reactive than gold

3.

Which of the following statements is correct?

[ ]	Iron oxide in a blast furnace is oxidised to form iron
[ ]	Iron oxide in a blast furnace is electrolysed to form iron
[ ]	Iron oxide in a blast furnace is melted to form iron
[x]	Iron oxide in a blast furnace is reduced to form iron

In order to obtain any metal from its oxide it has to be reduced

4.

What is the main impurity in iron from a blast furnace?

[x]	Carbon
[ ]	Oxygen
[ ]	Unreacted iron ore
[ ]	All of the above

Iron straight from the blast furnace contains about 4% carbon, which makes it very brittle

5.

During the process of smelting, what happens to copper ore?

[ ]	It is oxidised
[x]	It is reduced
[ ]	It is augmented
[ ]	It is increased

Most metals are extracted from a metal oxide and copper is no exception. When oxygen is removed from a chemical, we say it has been reduced

6.

Carbon can be used to remove the oxygen from copper oxide to leave the copper. This contains impurities including carbon. How is this copper purified?

[ ]	Filtration
[ ]	Centrifuging
[x]	Electrolysis
[ ]	Double reduction

The impure copper is used as the anode. Copper ions are attracted to the cathode but the impurities are not and simply drop to the bottom of the reaction vessel

7.

It is said that by the middle of the 21^st century economical copper ores will have been used up. New ways of extracting copper from low-grade ores are being researched. One of these is called phytomining. What does phytomining involve?

[ ]	Using high powered lasers to blast the copper from the low grade ore
[x]	Using plants to absorb the copper compounds from the ores then burning the plants
[ ]	Using the low grade ores with a mixture of chemicals that will dissolve the impurities
[ ]	Using radioactive filters to get rid of the impurities

When the plants are burned, the ash is high in concentration of the copper ores. This could be used for other metals too as their best ores start to run out

8.

Another idea is to dump scrap iron into solutions of copper salts. How would this work?

[ ]	The iron would corrode which would push the copper out of solution
[ ]	The iron would take any oxygen from the salts leaving behind pure copper
[x]	The iron would displace the copper from the salts
[ ]	The iron would be reduced which would cause the copper to be deposited all around the inside of the reaction vessel

Iron is more reactive than copper and would displace it from solutions of its salts

9.

Bioleaching is yet another idea for getting metals that are less reactive than aluminium from very low grade ores and wastes. What organisms are used in this process?

[ ]	Protozoa
[ ]	Fish
[ ]	Leeches
[x]	Bacteria and fungi

There are many advantages and disadvantages of bioleaching. The process is simpler and does not require complex equipment but it is much slower than conventional methods, meaning that it takes longer for a company to earn the money back that they spent on setting it up

10.

The most common ore of tin is cassiterite, a form of tin oxide with the formula SnO₂. Which of the following is a balanced equation showing the extraction of tin from this ore?

[ ]	SnO₂ + 2C → 2CO₂ + Sn
[ ]	2SnO₂ + 2HCl → 2Sn + H₂O + 2ClO
[ ]	SnO₂ + H₂ → H₂O + Sn
[x]	SnO₂ + C → CO₂ + Sn

This question tests both whether you know that tin, an unreative metal, would be extracted using carbon, and your knowledge of balancing equations