Aluminium & Titanium• To know how aluminium and titanium are used

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Starter activity:

Cross WordHow many clues can you answer in the time limit?

Extraction• Why can aluminium not be extracted from their oxides by

reduction with carbon?

• Aluminium is more reactive than carbon, so the reaction does not work

PotassiumSodiumCalciumMagnesiumAluminium

(Carbon)ZincIronLead

(Hydrogen)CopperSilverGoldPlatinum

Extraction• Aluminium and titanium cannot be extracted from their

oxides by reduction with carbon: -▫ Aluminium is more reactive than carbon, so the reaction

does not work▫ Titanium forms titanium carbide with carbon, which

makes the metal brittle

• Aluminium extraction is expensive because the process needs a lot of electrical energy in the many stages of extraction

• Titanium extraction is expensive because the process involves several stages and a lot of energy – this especially limits the uses of titanium

Aluminium can vs Bauxite

Which will melt at a lower temperature? Which is easier to turn into aluminum foil? Which will cost less to turn into aluminum foil? Which will damage the environment less when turning it into aluminum foil?

Costs of extracting and recycling:•The costs of extracting aluminium or any metal

is 70% to 95% of the current market value. Aluminium is selling at about £1000/tonne,

• the cost of extracting the Aluminium can be between ………………. & ……………….. /tonne.

•Recycling uses just 5 % of the energy needed to extract new aluminium! How much do you think this would cost?

Recycling• Aluminium is extensively recycled because less energy is

needed to produce recycled aluminium than to extract aluminium from its ore

• Recycling preserves limited resources and requires less energy, so it causes less damage to the environment

So why are they so important? What do we use them for?•http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/

reactivity-of-metals-uses-in-surgery/618.html

•These are both very useful metals: here are some uses:

Guggenheim museum in Bilbao.

Titanium spork.

Can you find out some facts about aluminium and titanium?•How much does the average person /

family use?•Examples of unusual uses?•How much gets thrown away each year?•How much is there on the planet?•How much gets recycled?•What are their properties?•Why was titanium used for SR-71

Blackbird?

Aluminium & Titanium• Aluminium and titanium are two metals with a low density –

this means that they are lightweight for their size

• They also have a very thin layer of their oxides on the surface, which stops air and water getting to the metal, so aluminium and titanium resist corrosion making the two metals very useful

• Aluminium is used for aircraft, trains, overhead power cables, saucepans and cooking foil

• Titanium is used for fighter aircraft, artificial hip joints and pipes in nuclear power stations

Should we encourage recycling? How can we encourage recycling?