Human beings are one of the most defenseless

animals.
 We lack sharp teeth, claws, speed, etc.
What we do have is a superior brain.
 Make tools to compensate for what we don’t have.
Bones, animal teeth, stones, and wood are some
materials used.

It is believed that man first discovered gold

and silver.
 They found these metals beautiful, but too soft to be
used for anything utilitarian (having a useful
function).
About 10,000 years ago man discovered and
used another metals- copper
 Soft- used for decorations
Around 3800 B.C- man discovered tin
 Useless in its raw form
 Alloyed with Copper, a tough metal was created
 Metal Alloys are a mixture containing two or more
metallic or non-metallic elements usually fused
together when in a molten form.

 Birth of the Bronze age.

Eventually mankind discovered iron ore,
and developed the techniques for
extracted iron from that ore.
Iron age was born around the 12th
century B.C.
Humans experimenting with iron
forging techniques developed the first
iron alloy- steel.
 Steel is an alloy between iron and carbon.
 Other metals are added to modern steel for
strength and higher melting point.
How does the history of
the discovery of metals
relate to chemistry?
In the last unit you learned that the alkali
metals were the most reactive metals.
You also learned that most metals react with
acid.
Some of you may have also noticed a reaction
between your unknown samples and the CuCl2
What determines how and with what a metal
reacts?
One way to study the reactivity of metals is to
test how they react with oxygen
 Oxygen is plentiful
 Need for combustion.

Copper vs. Magnesium Demo

Compare this to gold.
 Does Au tarnish easily?
Rank the reactivity of Au, Cu, and Mg?
Which do you think will be used for jewelry,
and for the wires and electrical contacts in
expensive electronic devices, and car air bags?
Table on page 121 that ranks how reactive a
metal is.
 Notice that Lithium is at the top of the list
 Most reactive metal
Never found free in nature
Extracted by expensive electrometallurgical extraction
Electricity passed though ore
Expensive to store: highly reactive with air
 Gold is at the bottom of the list
 Least reactive
Used in jewelry, sensitive electrical components, art
Can be found free in nature or in ore
Extracted by heating ore
What determines how metals are found in
nature?
Reactivity
 More reactive metals found in ores.
 Harder/ more difficult to process
 Less reactive metals found “free”
 Easier to process
 Refer to page 121 in textbook for Activity Series
An activity series can be used to predict
whether or not a reaction will take place.
In you last lab Unknown G was Zn metal.
You all should have seen a reaction between
the Zn and the CuCl2 solution.
Look at Zn and Cu on the activity series table.
Notice Zn is above Cu on the table
In general, atoms of a more reactive metal
(higher on the table) will cause ions of a less
reactive metal to be converted to its metallic
form.
Christmas Ornament Activity after Thanksgiving
Break (maybe?).
Do you see the relationship between how
reactive a metal is, and when it was
discovered by man?
Do you see the relationship between how
reactive a metal is, and how difficult it is
to extract?
1. What trend in metallic reactivity to you see as you
go from left to tight across a period?
2. Where are the most reactive metals on the P.T.?
3. Where are the least reactive metals found on the
P.T.?
4. Will iron metal react with a Lead (II) nitrate
solution? Explain.
5. Will platinum metal react with the lead (II) nitrate
solution? Explain.
6. Which are less expensive, more reactive or less
reactive metals? Why would reactivity influence
the price?
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.
Finish Pre-lab
MUST BE DONE IN
NOTEBOOKS.
Any pre-labs done on
loose paper will lose
half of your points.