Metals: Reactivity and Extraction

What this unit covers

The resources follow a clear path through metals. They start with properties and uses, move on to how metals react, and finish with how they are taken from ores. Several mention GCSE Chemistry, IGCSE Chemistry, National 5 Chemistry and A-level Chemistry, so you can find material that matches your course.

Where to start

Begin with the mind map Extraction of Metals. It explains that most metals are found in ores as oxides or sulphides, and that extraction involves reduction, where oxygen is removed from the metal oxide. Then look at Patterns of Reactivity, which shows how some metals tarnish in air and water while copper and gold do not.

If you want a broader overview first, the Metals Chemistry Mind Map lists the usual properties of metals: strong, malleable, ductile, shiny when polished and good conductors of heat and electricity.

Reactions and the blast furnace

• The quiz Metals and acids asks what happens when magnesium meets hydrochloric acid and what happens with copper.
• The quiz The blast furnace tests how coke burns in hot air and why the air is blasted in.
• The notes called The Blast Furnace list the raw materials: haematite, limestone and coke.

Using maps and quizzes together

Read a mind map first, then take a quiz on the same idea. Wrong answers show you which branch to revisit. The flashcard deck National 5 Chemistry-Metals is useful for quick recall of metallic bonding, reactions with water and reactions with acid. The mind map Alloys explains why mixtures of metals with other elements matter.

Where it fits

This unit sits in the Inorganic Chemistry strand of Chemistry. Teachers can pick maps and quizzes to set as revision tasks. Whatever your role, choose one resource today and work through it.