Question

Name a metal of medium reactivity and write three main steps in the extraction of this metal from its sulphide ore

Answer 1

Answer:

the metals in the middle of the reactivity series are iron, zinc, lead and copper.

its extraction has 2 main steps:

1. roasting

2. reduction

Explanation:

roasting: heating in the presence of excess oxygen/air.

2 ZnS(s)+ 3 O2(g)→→→→ 2 ZnO(s)+ 2 SO2

reduction:

(with carbon)

ZnO(g)+ C(s)→→→ Zn(s)+ CO(g)

thus Zn is extracted from its sulphide ore.

Answer 2

Following are the three main steps in the extraction of a medium reactivity metal from its sulfide ore:

• The reactivity of any element is defined as the tendency of an element to react with other elements or the surrounding.
• Noble elements are the elements will very low reactivity as they have completely filled orbitals.
• Whereas, metals such as Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), and Mercury (Hg) are metals having medium reactivity and are also available for extraction in sulfide ore form.
• Let us look at the example of zinc blende (ZnS), the method to extract zinc metal from it is as follows:

1. Concentration:

• The concentration of the ore takes place by froth floatation method, in which the collectors and froth stabilizers are added to the ore where the metal gets wet by the froth and is skimmed upwards whereas the gangue is wet by water and is settled at the bottom of the vessel.

    2. Roasting:

• Here, the concentrated ore is heated in presence of steam, and Zinc oxide with sulfur dioxide gas is formed as a result. This process is carried out because Zn can be extracted from its oxide in a better way.

    3. Refining:

• Zn from ZnO (Zinc oxide) can be refined by electrolytic refining or even by the addition of 'C' in ZnO, which will give us the products Zn and CO2.

In this way, we can extract pure zinc from its sulfide ore.

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