By: Lara Matic Does a connection or a relationship exist between the reactivity of a metal and when it is discovered ?

Human Ingenuity Human ingenuity is part of metals. In this project I have to write about metals and the discoveries and how they have improved over they years. The metals I will cover are; Iron Copper Aluminum Silver Gold Sodium

Periodic Table

Reactivity Series

Iron Discovery: No one knows who discovered iron because iron has been used in prehistory. Iron is a metal that has been used since ancient times. Lower-melting copper alloys were first used in history. Iron is a chemical element with symbol Fe. It is the most common metal on Earth. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust. Iron is the second most common element after aluminum. Scientists prove that portions of the Earth have a large consist of iron. A method for taking out iron from the Earths core is to heat it up with limestone and coke. The coke reacts with iron oxide to produce iron and the limestone combines with impurities in the core to remove the furnace.

Iron Iron is a silvery white/grayish metal that is ductile and malleable. It is one of the three natural elements. Iron has a high tense, which means, it can be; hammered, rolled, bent, cut, shaped, formed and it some shapes or thicknesses. Iron does have a melting point, it is 1,536〫C.

Iron Uses Iron is used to manufacture steel. There are about 27 different types of steel and in each one of them iron is in it mixed with something else. In each steel it is mixed with something else. It is used for making many outdoor household things, like; Wrought iron fencing Arbors Wrought iron trellies Wrought iron patio furniture Cast iron is a main thing in kitchens. Cast iron is used to make cookware like pots and pans. The stove where the cooking happens is make by cast iron.

Relationship with Reactivity Series Iron is in the middle of the reactivity series. Iron reacts with air, water and acid. It takes some time for it to start reacting but it reacts.

Copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu. Copper is a ductile metal with high thermal electrical conductivity. Pure copper is a soft, malleable metal with pinkish and peachy color. Copper belongs in the same place of the periodic table as silver and gold. Copper is easily used like silver and gold, it is easily malleable and ductile. The way it can be put into a wire makes it easy to be used for electrical wiring and electricity.

Copper Discovery Copper has been used at least 11,000 years. It was discovered in the Middle East in 9000 BC. By 5000 BC there were signs of copper smelting. But people couldn’t exactly find copper smelting they could only find signs of it. Copper smelting was discovered alone in several parts of the world. It was developed in China in 2800 BC. No one knows who discovered Copper because is was also used in the prehistoric times. They also don’t know when it was discovered, Archeologists think that it was discovered somewhere between 5000 BC and 1,200 BC.

Copper It has a redish, orangish and brownish color to it. Pure copper is either pink or peach colored. Copper is one of the three elements with a natural color. The similar electron structure in copper, gold and silver makes these three elements similar in many ways.

Reactions and Relationship with Copper Copper is the least reactive in the reactivity series. Copper doesn’t react with water, but it slowly reacts with the atmospheres oxygen which then forms a layer of brown-black copper oxide. It reacts with hydrogen sulfide and sulfide containing solutions. In the sulfide containing solutions copper will corrode. This happens in every day life when the copper is exposed to air containing sulfur compounds.

Aluminum Aluminum is a metal with a atomic number of 13. The symbol for Aluminum is Al. It is the most abundant metal. It is the third most abundant element in earths crust after oxygen and silicon. It is too reactive chemically to occur naturally in earth. It is found in a combination of 270 minerals. It is a silvery white metal with valuable properties. Pure aluminum is soft and ductile. It is used for airplanes and soda cans.

Aluminum Aluminum is in the middle of the reactivity series. It is just below the most reactive. When aluminum reacts with oxygen a thin layer of aluminum oxide builds up on the outside of the aluminum metal. This stops the oxygen from reaching to he part of the metal that hasn’t reacted yet. It was discovered in 1825 by Hans Christian Oersted. In 1845 Friedrich Wöhler discovered many of the metals properties, that were not discovered in 1825.

Silver Silver is another metal. Its atomic symbol is Ag. The atomic number is 47. silver has been known since ancient times, no one knows who discovered it and no one is exactly sure when it was discovered. In the Aegean Sea it indicates that man learned how to separate lead from silver in 3000 BC.

Description of Silver Pure silver has a bright metallic luster. It is ductile and malleable. It has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of all the metals. It does not rust when it is exposed to water and oxygen, but it does rust when it is exposed to ozone, hydrogen sulfide or air that contains sulfur.

Uses of Silver Silver is used for jewelry silver wear etc. It is also used in dental alloys. It is used in making brazing alloys, electrical contacts and high capacity silver zinc and silver cadmium batteries. It is used in mirrors and anything that has to do with reflection. Silver fulminate is a powerful explosive, that contains silver. Silver can also be used as a cement for glass. It is used extensively in photography. Silver has been used all around the world for centuries.

Relationship With The Reactivity Series Silver is the third least reactive metal. Silver does not react with pure water, it is stable with water and air. Silver corrodes when it comes in contact with Sulphur Compounds. Silver tarnishes when it is exposed to ozone, hydrogen sulphide or air containing sulphur.

Gold Gold is in the middle of the periodic table. It is a heavy metal known as the transition metals. The symbol for Gold is Au, and the atomic number is 79. Gold had been discovered around 2600 BC. A special skill developed by the Ancient Egyptians was adding gold to glass objects. Writing and the usage of things show that Gold has been used in almost every civilization. The Roman Historians like Pliny the Elder has writing about the usage and mining of gold.

Properties of Gold Gold is both ductile and malleable. It is quite soft and it can usually be scratched of by a penny. Gold is not very reactive it does not combine with oxygen nor does it dissolve when mixed with acids. This could make some very important used for gold, gold coins would not corrode, neither would jewelry or art work that is made up of Gold.

Uses of Gold In 1986 experts proved that 121,000 tons had been mined through history, and that 18,000 tons of that were used for industrial and health care. Gold is created into big long bars and are kept in the bank. Gold is also used to make jewelry and coins.

Description of Gold Gold is a very bright element. It is bronze and shiny. It can also be used as a mirror but not made into a mirror because of how reflective it is. It stands out because of how it shines.

Relationship in Reactivity Series Gold is at the second bottom of the reactivity series. It is not reactive at all. Gold does not react with most chemicals. It is affected by chlorine, fluorine, agua regia and cyanide. Gold is unaffected by water, air and alkalis.

Sodium Sodium is a element with an atomic number as 11. Its symbol to represent it is Na. Compounds of sodium have been known throughout human history. Sodium was discovered by Sir Humphrey Davy in 1807 AD. Because sodium has a high reactivity it is not found naturally in its element.

Sodium Uses and Appearance Sodium is used in the manufacture of sodamide and esters. Sodium compounds have to be used in industries, paper, glass, soap, textile, petroleum and metal. Sodium is a white soft silvery metal which is stored in paraffin.

Reactivity and Relationship Sodium is a very reactive element. It reacts with water, air and acid. Sodium reacts very violently with water. Sodium looses valance electron when it comes to contact with water, that’s why it is so reactive with it. The reaction does not take a while until it starts, it can start in a matter of seconds.

Conclusion After most of the metals have been discovered someone always discovered new properties to it a few years later. The difference in metals like sodium and gold is that sodium is violently reactive to water and gold is not affected at all by water. This shows that the less reactive the element the more different it is to the most reactive element.

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