22.4 The Indispensable Three:Iron, Copper, and Aluminum

Liz EwingsNicole Wigder

Chem 163, June 2009

What the heck are they used for?

Iron, Fe: Cars, skyscrapers, superheros

Copper, Cu:Wiring, pennies, pipes

Aluminum, Al:Soda cans, batteries, power

lines

Crusty Old Metal Chick% Mass in Earth’s Crust…

• Iron: 4.7%• Copper: 0.007%• Aluminum: 7.5%– Most abundant metal in

earth’s crust by mass– Found in rubies,

sapphires, turquoise

Excuse for gratuitous nudity% mass in human body…

• Iron: 0.005%– Hemoglobin, O2 transport

• Copper: 4 x 10-4%– Hemocyanin, O2 transport

for lobsters

• Aluminum: trace amounts – extremely toxic, try not to

eat if at all possible.If impossible, alert your family doctor or local chemistry student immediately upon ingestion.

Dum-dum-da-dum-dummm

• Probably should be called ‘Steel Man’– Oops, that’s a different

guy!• Used for 3,000 years– Large scale production

didn’t begin until 1773…

– Just in time for the American Revolution, what a coincidence.

If you can’t get a reservation in Hades,A blast furnace is the next best thing!

• 200-700 C: Partial reduction– CO+3Fe2O32Fe3O4+CO2

– CaCO3CO2+CaO– Fe3O4+CO3FeO+CO

• 700-1200 C: Final reduction– C+CO22CO– FeO+COFe+CO2

• 1200-1500 C: Iron melts– CaO+SiO2CaSiO3 SLAG

• 1500 C: Phosphates and silicates reduce– Dissolve in iron as impurities

• “Basic oxygen process”– Really BIG hairdryer oxidizes

impurities– Lime converts oxides to liquid slag

RIP Titanic: Sunk by Crappy Rivets

Where do pennies come from?

Chalcopyrite: CuFeS2 (s)

1. 2 CuFeS2 (s) + 3O2 (g) → 2CuS (s) + 2FeO (s) + 2SO2 (g)

2. 2FeO (s) + SiO2 (s) → FeSiO3 (l) [mix with sand to make slag]

3. CuS is unstable and decomposes to Cu2S

4. Cu2S (s) + 3O2 (g) → 2Cu2O (s) + 2SO2 (g)

5. Cu2S (s) + 2Cu2O (s) → 6Cu (l) + SO2 (g) [copper is ready for plumbing]

6. Electrorefining used to produce more pure copper for wiring

Not your average penny

• Two pennies thick

• 22 stories high

It takes how much energy?

• Aluminum: 3+ ion; 27 g/mol• 1/3Al3+ + 3e- = 1/3 Al(s) : 9g• Compare to Mg2+: 12g; Ca2+: 20g• “Aluminum manufacture in the US uses more electricity

in one day than a city of 100,000 uses in a year!”

Do you know what you’re eating?

“The average adult in the U.S. eats about 7-9 mg aluminum per day in their food.”

“Only very small amounts of aluminum that you may inhale, ingest, or have skin contact with will enter the bloodstream. Exposure to aluminum is usually not harmful, but exposure to high levels can affect your health.“

So, where does it all go?

Thankyou. Thankyou very much.

http://www.marklattanzi.com/travel/2005Italy/pics/sanGimingnano/004-MetalSmith.jpghttp://www.steel.org/AM/images/learning/howmade/images/bosplant.jpghttp://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://herokids.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/earth.jpg&imgrefurl=http://herokids.wordpress.com/&h=324&w=324&sz=34&tbnid=2vHbolAIr7D_6M:&tbnh=118&tbnw=118&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dimages%2Bof%2Bearth&hl=en&usg=__Bn3li_GURzmFu0tR4fH0hyD5wHk=&ei=5gIiSs2EA6DqtQOXkN2JBA&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=1&ct=imagehttp://images.starpulse.com/Photos/Previews/Titanic-movie-14.jpghttp://www.nps.gov/stli/faqs.htmhttp://corrosion-doctors.org/Electrowinning/Copper.htmhttp://www.mandmrecycling.com/images-atlanta-recycling/Steel_recycling_bales.jpghttp://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/LIQ/LIQ102/vl0001b093.jpghttp://www.green-sexy.com/images/2008/01/04/recycle_logo_cans_3.gifhttp://www.recyclemonsters.com/steelcrains.jpghttp://images.surlatable.com/surlatable/images/en_US//local/products/detail/PC609457.jpghttp://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts22.html#bookmark05http://www.8notes.com/images/artists/elvis-presley.jpg

AND The Large Book Called “Chemistry, the Molecular Nature of Matter and Change”, Martin S. Silberberg, 5th Edition, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Copyright 2009.