EASE OF EXTRACTION OF Al & Cu Reactivity Series &

Extracting Al Aluminium is too high in the reactivity series to extract simply by heating with charcoal Requires electrolysis

Extracting Al 1.Mine the bauxite ore (contains Aluminium oxide = alumina) 1.Purify the ore into Al 2 O 3 1.Heat into a molten mixture of Al 3+ and O 2- ions

Extracting Al 4. Perform electrolysis. Al 3+ ions are reduced by gaining 3 electrons. Red: Al 3+ (l) + 3e-  Al (s) O 2- ions are oxidised to produce oxygen gas. Ox: 2 O 2- (l)  O 2(g) + 4e- Overall Redox Rxn:

Extracting Cu 1.Mine copper ore (chalcopyrite, CuFeS 2 )

Extracting Cu 2.Concentrate the ore (from 2%  25%) using froth floatation. – ore put in a large bath of water containing a detergent – Air is blown to make bubbles – Ore binds to air bubbles and floats to the top; rocky material stays in the bath

Extracting Cu 3.Chalcopyrite ore is heated with sand (SiO 2 ) and air to remove unwanted iron 2CuFeS 2(s) + 2SiO 2(s) + 4O 2(g)  Cu 2 S (l) + 2 FeSiO 3(l) + 3SO 2(g)

Extracting Cu 3.Copper (I) sulfide is heated in air to form blister copper (98% pure) Cu 2 S (l) + O 2(g)  2Cu (l) + SO 2(g) Trapped gas

Extracting Cu 3.Copper is purified to 99.95% using electrolysis Cu 2+ *Blister copper Cu (s)