Metals and when it was discovered

Metals and when it was discoveredBy: Yeon G.Mrs. HennardScience 8ANovember 10 2010Contents Reactivity Series 5 Different metals Does it have a relation? Some exceptions. Evaluation

A chart with all metal discover dates:

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Rubidium (Rb)Discovery date: 1861Discovered by: R. Bunsen and Gustav KirchoffReactivity: Very reactive even with air, and you can see how it reacts in water here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFG4Yr7lQzw Uses: Sometimes Rubidium is used in fireworks to give a purple color. Also it is used as catalyst and manufacturing of photocells. Basically, rubidium wont take on any permanent chemical damage on itself, but is used to increase the rate of a chemical reaction, and it is involved in converting light to electric energy.

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Rb continuousHow it is extracted: Rubidium is found in low concentrations, in the minerals such as, lepidolite, carnallite, and pollucitre. This metal is usually obtained while lithium processing. But it is also obtained by the passage of electronic current of molten, and by the distilling of molten with calcium.Out of the 5 I have chosen to discuss, this is the most reactive metal. And rubidium was discovered in 1861, the latest date out of the 5. Rubidium was discovered this late because the of the many reactions it went deeper and deeper into and with other chemicals, making extraction harder. There was 2 processes needed for the pure rubidium. In addition, these two processes needed better technology.

6, 12, 13Lithium (Li)Discovery date: 1817Discovered by: Johann Arfvedson

Reactivity: Lithium in water: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ypUVpwgcAA And as you see Lithium is kept in oil due to its reactivity with airUses: Lithium has many uses, and has been used since World War II. It is used as batteries, ceramics, and lubricants. It is one of the best metal for battery anodes. And lithium is used in special glasses (as rubidium is) and ceramics. Also, this metal is used for the minimizing of friction. In addition, this metal has nuclear applications.

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5, 10, 11Li continuousHow it is extracted/obtained: Lithium is obtained by the passage of electric charge through melted lithium cloride and spodumene. Lithium is the second most reactive metal out of the five, it was discovered before rubidium and after calcium, zince, and gold. Lithium was discovered earlier than rubidium because it only needed one process to extract it. This means that lithium did not react with as many different elements as rubidium did.

5, 10, 11Calcium (Ca)Discovery date: 1808Discoverer: Sir Humphrey DavyReactivity: Calcium in water: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXjVjuFBVrk Uses: Calcium was an alloy for other metals, such as aluminium, copper, lead, and magnesium. And a deoxidizer, which meant calcium removed the combined oxygen from a substance.

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Ca ContinuousHow is it extracted/obtained: Calcium is obtained by electrolysis from calcium chloride. But, it is never fully pure, with the electrolysis it is 98.6% pure, and with further subliming, 99.5% can be pure. Subliming means the process of a solid deposit forming again when cooled after changing into vapor directly when heated. Calcium is right in the middle of the 5 metals, and is the third most reactive, as well as the 3rd one to be discovered. The two metals before and calcium discussed were all found in the 19th century, whether it being in the later or earlier half of it. Calcium was found early, though never fully purified.

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Zinc (Zn)Discovery date: 1746Discoverer: Andreas Marggraf Reactivity: Zinc reacting with acid: (after some time) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfrsElKZaLU Uses: Zinc has many uses, such as metal coating (rusting protection), and it is used in the alloy of brass, bronze, and nickel silver and more. Zinc is commonly used to galvanize other metals to prevent corrosion, such as iron. In addition, zinc is used to manufacture various products, such as paint, rubber, cosmetics, plastics, inks, soaps, and batteries.

Photograph. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. .7, 15, 16Zn ContinuousHow is it extracted/obtained: Zinc is found in ores such as, blende and calamine. It is obtained from the ore after two steps; concentrating/roasting the ore, then the process of electrolysis is one way of reducing it to zinc. Zinc isnt very reactive compared to magnesium, lithium and calcium, yet a very reactive metal when compared to gold. It was discovered in the 18th century, a century earlier than the three before. This is because zinc did not react as much to other elements and make compounds, as rubidium or calcium did.

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Gold (Au)Discovery date: ~5000BCDiscoverer: unknownReactivity: Hardly reacts with air, water, and acid. Used: Gold is commonly used for jewelry and coins, because of its resistance to corrosion. In addition it is used for coating satellites, because it is inert, and a good reflector of infrared.

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Au ContinuousHow it is extracted/obtained: Gold is very easily obtained, many times it can just be found on the crust of the earth. But, it can also be found in ores of copper. Gold is not reactive at all, especially because it is used in jewelry, and as coins. It is a metal which does not need protection to keep it from rusting. Therefore, gold is not very reactive. This is why it was found so easily, it doesnt react with anything, so it is found as a metal by itself.

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The connection/relationship between the reactivity of the metal and when it was discovered? Yes, there was definitely a relationship between how reactive the metal is and when it was discovered. When the metal is more reactive, they tend to get discovered later. This is due to the depth of the metals when it is more reactive. If it is highly reactive, it is harder to extract, due to the reactions with many other solids, liquids, gasses, and aqueous. Basically, when it is highly reactive, they combine a compound with others and make it harder to extract. In addition, even if highly reactive metals were found on earths crust, it would disappear when in contact with elements such as water and air. Less reactive metals tend to be on or nearer to the earths crust. Especially gold, gold was found as a nugget on the surface, you could find a block of gold, and it would be completely pure. Gold can be found like this because it is not very reactive with other compounds, therefore, it will not react. The more reactive metals were discovered later than less reactive metals. 1 + My result and thoughts from researchMetalsRubidium - 1860Potassium - 1807Sodium - 1807Lithium - 1817Calcium - 1808Magnesium - 1808Aluminium - 1825Zinc - 1746Cobalt - 1737Iron ~ 2000BCTin ~ 3000BCCopper ~ 3500BCSilver ~ 5000BCGold ~ 5000BC1Odds!But there were some exceptions, the metals from potassium to aluminium are a bit mixed up. (I listed the metals from most reactive at the top to the least at the bottom). According to what I found, potassium is supposed to get discovered later than any metals below it on the reactivity series, but it was discovered before lithium, aluminium, magnesium, calcium, and it was discovered at the same time with sodium (but potassium and sodium being found at the same time is due to lack of technology, because they couldnt differentiate the two). In addition, it isnt only potassium being out of place, in general that area has some metals that were discovered later and earlier, without relation to how reactive it was. Nothing is perfect, and these metals could have just been found in this order because some countries had better technology than others. What I am saying is, magnesium could have been found in a different country, that didnt care much about metals or didnt have the technology to extract it at the time.My result and thoughts from researchSelf-evaluationWell, it always depends on how you look at it. If you look at the bigger image, it can be quite convincing, because in general you can see that the metals that were discovered earlier were less reactive and that the metals discovered later were more reactive. But, if you look at if a bit more in detail, it may seem like ordinary discovery dates. To go against the idea of the relationship of reactivity of metals and the discovery dates, as I mentioned the metals from aluminium to potassiums discoveries were all jumbled up, it wasnt even one exception. In addition, in some parts I did have to kind of hide the truth, like, I used the metals that were in order, without the ones that werent. So, in my opinion, it could seem convincing, but there are many holes in the data. I may have proved it enough, but to some people it may not be. But, I always think it is good to state or discuss both sides, so the benefits as well as the limitations. Bibliography"BBC - H2g2 - Metals, Their Properties and Reactivity - a Beginners' Guide." BBC - Homepage. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. ."Calcium." Web. 10 Nov. 2010. ."Chemical Elements.com - Calcium (Ca)." Chemical Elements.com - An Interactive Periodic Table of the Elements. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. ."Chemical Elements.com - Gold (Au)." Chemical Elements.com - An Interactive Periodic Table of the Elements. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. ."Chemical Elements.com - Lithium (Li)." Chemical Elements.com - An Interactive Periodic Table of the Elements. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. ."Chemical Elements.com - Rubidium (Rb)." Chemical Elements.com - An Interactive Periodic Table of the Elements. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. ."Chemical Elements.com - Zinc (Zn)." Chemical Elements.com - An Interactive Periodic Table of the Elements. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. .Bibliography continued9. "Gold." Web. 10 Nov. 2010. .10. "Lithium - Periodic Table of the Elements." Kemijsko-tehnoloki Fakultet U Splitu. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. .11. "Lithium." Web. 10 Nov. 2010. .12. "Rubidium - Chemistry Encyclopedia - Water, Uses, Elements, Metal." Chemistry: Foundations and Applications. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. .13. "Rubidium." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. .14. Sorrels,, By Launie. "How Is Calcium Obtained? | EHow.com." EHow | How To Do Just About Everything! | How To Videos & Articles. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. .15. "Visual Elements: Zinc." Royal Society of Chemistry, the Largest Organisation in Europe for Advancing the Chemical Sciences. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. .16. "Zinc." Web. 10 Nov. 2010. .