C/W

Sunday 12 July 2015

C1: Metals and their uses
Iron and steels

HOMEWORK:

LO: To be able to state and explain why

steels are produced and give examples of
steel

See the purple sheet!

Success criteria:
State that iron oxide is reduced in a blast
furnace using carbon (grade B/C)
List the properties of iron produced from
the blast furnace (Grade B)
Explain why steels are produced (Grade A)
Give examples of difference types of
steels and how their properties differ
(Grade A*)

Starter:

List as many uses and the

properties of iron associated
with it as you can think of

Context: Iron and steels

Key words:

Iron

Blast furnace

Properties

Steel

Impurities

Starter
In pairs you have got three minutes to try and write down
as much as you can about Iron, using the Periodic table to
help.

Iron

Jul 12, 2015

Learning Objective
To further our knowledge of metal
extraction

Learning Outcomes
All: To be able to recognise how iron is extracted.

B/C

Most: To be able to describe how iron is converted

into steel.

Some: To be able to evaluate the social, economic

and environmental impact of the decline in the
steel industry.

A*

Earths Elements
Rank the elements in order of abundance.
Most abundant

Iron
Aluminium
Calcium
Silicon

Least abundant

Oxygen

Self Assessment: Earths Elements

Rank the elements in order of abundance.
Most abundant

Oxygen

46.6%

Silicon
27.7%
Aluminium 8.1%
Calcium
3.6%
Iron
5.0%
Least abundant

increasing reactivity

The Reactivity Series

potassium
sodium
calcium
magnesium
aluminium
(carbon)
zinc
iron
lead
(hydrogen)
copper
silver
gold
platinum

Metals above carbon in the

reactivity series must be
extracted using electrolysis.
Metals less reactive than
carbon can be extracted from
their ores by reduction using
carbon, coke or charcoal.
Platinum, gold, silver and
copper can occur native and do
not need to be extracted.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/for
mation-of-an-oxide/95.html

The Blast Furnace

The common ores of
iron are both iron
oxides (Fe2O3), and
these can be reduced
to iron by heating
them with carbon in
the form of coke.

A blast furnace

The Heat Source

The air blown into the bottom of
the furnace is heated using the
hot waste gases from the top.
The coke (impure carbon) burns
in the blast of hot air to form
carbon dioxide.
This reaction is the main source
of heat in the furnace.

Reduction of the Ore

At the high temperature at the
bottom of the furnace, carbon
dioxide reacts with carbon to
produce carbon monoxide.
The temperature of the furnace
is hot enough to melt the iron
which trickles down to the
bottom where it can be tapped
off.

The Function of Limestone

Iron ore isn't pure iron oxide
- it also contains an
assortment of rocky material.
The limestone (calcium
carbonate) is added to
convert this into slag which
melts and runs to the bottom.
The heat of the furnace
decomposes the limestone to
give calcium oxide.

Complete the sheet on iron

impacts

Reactions
PeerinAssessment
the Blast Furnace

How did you do?

A* 9
A7-8
B4-6
C1-3

I scored .......... and achieved a

grade [A/B/C/D].

Iron & Steel

Cast iron (pig iron)
straight from the blast
furnace is very hard and
brittle.
It is used for engine
blocks, man-hole covers,
cooking pans etc.
It contains about 4%
carbon which makes it
brittle

Iron & Steel

Steels are alloys since they
are mixtures of iron with
other metals or non-metals.

Low carbon steel

Stainless steel

High carbon steel

Group Work: UK Steel industry

Read through the materials on your desks
about the decline in the UK steel industry.
On your post it notes write 1 advantage (1
per post it note) and 1 disadvantage about
the;
Economic
Social
Environmental effects of the decline in the UK
steel industry.

UK Steel Industry
For

Against

Learning Outcomes
All: To be able to recognise how iron is extracted.
Most: To be able to describe how iron is converted into
steel.
Some: To be able to evaluate the social, economic and
environmental impact of the decline in the steel
industry.

What grade are you working at?

A*

Why are we learning about

metals?

Do all metals behave in the same way?

What are the properties of different metals?

Typical properties of metals

What are the general properties of most metals?
solid at room temperature
high melting point
good conductors of electricity and heat
malleable: they can be shaped
ductile: they can be drawn into wires
strong
dense
Why do metals have these particular properties?

increasing reactivity

How does reactivity affect extraction?

potassium
sodium
calcium
magnesium
aluminium
(carbon)
zinc
iron
tin
lead
copper
silver
gold
platinum

electrolysis.

reduction using carbon, coke

or charcoal.

native

96% iron
3% carbon
1% other
impurities

Iron from the blast furnace is not pure

The diagram shows one way of modelling the

atom arrangement in pure iron

What is an alloy?
An alloy is a mixture of a metal with at least one other
element.
Steel is a common example of an alloy. It contains iron mixed
with carbon and other elements. Adding other elements to a
metal changes its structure and so changes its properties.
The final alloy may have
very different properties
to the original metal.
By changing the amount
of each element in an
alloy, material scientists
can custom-make alloys
to fit a given job.

What is steel?
Steel is an alloy of iron and other elements, including carbon,
nickel and chromium.
Steel is stronger than pure iron and can be used for
to suspension bridges!
everything from sauce pans

Why is steel stronger than iron?

The atoms in pure iron are
arranged in densely-packed
layers. These layers can slide
over each other. This makes
pure iron a very soft material.
The atoms of other elements
are different sizes. When other
elements are added to iron,
their atoms distort the regular
structure of the iron atoms.
It is more difficult for the layers
of iron atoms in steel to slide
over each other and so this
alloy is stronger than pure iron.

You need to draw 2 models:

1. Pure iron
2. An alloy
Your models need to demonstrate their
properties.
Eg. The pure iron should be able to slide
over each layer

What types of steel are there?

Steel can contain up to 2% carbon.
Varying the amount of carbon gives steel
different properties. For example, a higher
carbon content makes a hard steel.
Different types of steel are classified
by how much carbon they contain.
low carbon steel contains less than 0.25% carbon
high carbon steel contains more than 0.5% carbon.
Two other important types of steel are:
stainless steel an alloy of iron that contains at least
11% chromium and smaller amounts of nickel and carbon
titanium steel an alloy of iron and titanium.

Steel is a mixture.
All steels contain mostly carbon.
Stainless steels are expensive.
Stainless steels rust because they
contain iron.
The chemical symbol for steel is St.

Steel is a mixture. [True]

All steels contain mostly carbon.
[False]
Stainless steels are expensive. [True]
Stainless steels rust because they
contain iron. [False]
The chemical symbol for steel is St.