Reactivity of metals

Reactivity of metals

By: Ghada Al-Kuwari

What are metals?A metal is a chemical element that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat and forms cations and ionic bonds with non-metals. in chemistry, a metal is an element, compound, or alloy characterized by high electrical conductivity. In a metal, atoms readily lose electrons to form positive ions. Those ions are surrounded by delocalized electrons, which are responsible for the conductivity. The solid thus produced is held by electrostatic interactions between the ions and the electron clouds, which are called metallic bonds.

Gold

(Au)

When was it discovered?On January 24, 1848 gold was discovered by John Sutter. John was asked to build a lumber mill and supply materials for Sutter's dream empire "New Helvetia" he had discovered GOLD in the tailrace of the new mill. Gold has been used for thousands of years. Even before England discovered the Americas, the Mynas and Aztecs had piles of gold.

Silver

(Ag)

When was it discovered?it was discovered around 3,000 B.C. Archaeological evidence suggests that people have been using silver for at least 5000 years

The Reactivity Series

Not at all Reactive

Copper

(Cu)

When was it discovered?Copper was known to some of the oldest civilizations on record, and has a history of use that is at least 10,000 years old. No one knows exactly when copper was first discovered, but earliest estimates place this event around 9000 BC in the Middle East

Lead

(Pb)

When was it discovered?Lead has been commonly used for thousands of years because it is widespread, easy to extract and easy to work with. It is highly malleable and ductile as well as easy to smelt. Metallic lead beads dating back to 6400 B.C. have been found in Catalogue in modern-day Turkey. In the early Bronze Age, lead was used with antimony and arsenic.

Iron

(Fe)

When was it discovered?Iron was first discovered in South East Asia about 4000 years ago. It was considered more valuable than gold at that time! By around 1200 BC, the Iron Age had begun. The ways of extracting it and working with it improved. Since iron is hard to melt, early users had to invent new techniques such as shaping it by hammering rather than casting. These inventions pushed humanity faster than ever towards the modern world.

Not very Reactive

Zinc

(Zn)

When was it discovered?The element zinc was discovered in Germany in 1746 by Andreas Marggraf. However, zinc ores were commonly used to make brass as early as 1400 to 1000 B.C. in Palestine and an "alloy containing 87 percent zinc was discovered at prehistoric ruins in Transylvania," according to Web Elements.

Aluminum

(Al)

When was it discovered?It was in 1825 when a Danish chemist and physicist named Hans Christian Oersted developed a way of extracting small amounts of aluminum from alum by having anhydrous aluminum chloride react with potassium amalgam to produce a chunk of metal with properties similar to those of tin.

Magnesium

(Mg)

When was it discovered?Sir Humphrey Davy (1778–1829), isolated magnesium into its own element in 1808. When asked, “Who discovered magnesium?” most people would say he did. This is probably because he was able to isolate it and that made it useful

Fairly Reactive

Calcium

(Ca)

When was it discovered?The element Calcium was first discovered by Sir Humphry Davy, a British Chemist, in 1808, in England, through the electrolysis of a mixture of lime (CaO) and mercuric oxide (HgO)

Sodium

(Na)

When was it discovered?In medieval Europe, a compound of sodium (probably sodium carbonate) was used to relieve headaches. Sir Humphry Davy is credited with being the first to discover sodium as he was the first person to isolate the metal from caustic soda in 1807.

Potassium

(K)

When was it discovered?potassium was discovered in 1807 by British scientist Sir Humphry Davy, who derived it from caustic potash (KOH)where was it discovered and when His first successes came in 1807 with the separation of potassium from molten potash and of sodium from common salt.

Very Reactive

Is there a relationship?Yes, There is a relationship between the metals gold and silver. It examines the long run trend between the prices of gold and silver futures contracts traded on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange and concludes that the stable relationship between gold and silver prices has disappeared in the 1990s. Gold is more expensive then silver a lot.

Bibliography

http://www.ehow.com/about_5391029_zinc-discovered.html

http://education.jlab.org/qa/discover_ele.html

http://www.whodiscoveredit.com/who-discovered-aluminum.html

http://answers.yourdictionary.com/science/who-discovered-magnesium.html

http://www.corrosionist.com/Who_Discovered_Calcium.htm

http://wanttoknowit.com/who-discovered-sodium/

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_discovered_potassiumwww.google.com