Where are un reactive metals found?
In the Earth as the metal itself.
What are the metals and metal compounds that are found in the Earths crust?
Metal compounds- iron oxide and aluminium oxide
Metals- gold, copper
What is a metal ore?
A rock that contains enough of a metal that is worth extracting.
How are ores formed?
Metals are often chemically combined with other substances forming metal ores.
What are the main methods for extracting metals from their ores?
- electrolysis
- blast furnace
- reacting with more reactive materials
What are the 4 stages of the life cycle assessment? (EMUD)
1) extracting and processing raw materials.
2) manufacturing, distributing and packing the product.
3) using the product.
4) disposing of the product
What is the life cycle assessment?
A way analysing the “life” of a product to see how much water and energy is used and the effects on the environment of each stage.
What are the negative effects that extracting and processing raw materials can have?
- cutting down forests and digging mines can damage local environment and habitats.
- Processing materials require huge amounts of energy (like when extracting metals from ores/ fractional distillation of crude oil)
- lots of pollutants can be released
What are the negative effects of manufacturing, distributing and packaging?
- lots of energy used
- release of pollutants such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen chloride
- lots of waste products produced, which can sometimes be used as raw materials for something else, but they’re usually useless and disposed of
What are the negative impacts of using a product?
- damage caused during its lifetime (polluting cars/ fertiliser runoffs pollute bodies of water)
- how long the product is used for for (buying something that you use a lot such as a tote bag/ single use product such as a paper bag)
What are the negative effects of disposing a product?
- if disposed in a landfill, it takes the space that could’ve been used for nature and habitats.
- chemicals from landfills can seep out into the surrounding ecosystems.
- burning waste products can release pollutants into the atmosphere
