What is an ore and what processes remove useful metals from ores?

What is an ore and what processes remove useful metals from ores?

• A. An ore contains metal compounds; extraction involves reduction (and sometimes electrolysis) to obtain the metal.
• B. An ore is pure metal; extraction involves distillation.
• C. An ore is a mineral with no metal; extraction is impossible.
• D. An ore is metal oxide that dissolves in water.

Answer: (A)

An ore is a rock that contains a metal in chemical compounds in a useful quantity, not as pure metal. To get the metal out, those compounds must be broken down, usually by reducing them—removing the oxygen from metal oxides or the sulfur from sulfides. In many ores, the metal oxide is reduced with carbon (as coke) in a furnace, turning the oxide into metal and releasing carbon dioxide or monoxide. For some metals, especially very reactive ones, carbon isn’t enough to drive the reduction, so electricity is used to drive the extraction—electrolysis of the molten ore or a molten salt of the metal yields the metal at the electrodes. This is why the idea is that an ore contains metal compounds and extraction involves reduction, with electrolysis as a possible alternative when reduction with carbon isn’t feasible. Distillation isn’t a typical method for extracting metals from ores, and an ore isn’t simply pure metal, nor is it correct to say the metal can be obtained just by dissolving it in water.

An ore is a rock that contains a metal in chemical compounds in a useful quantity, not as pure metal. To get the metal out, those compounds must be broken down, usually by reducing them—removing the oxygen from metal oxides or the sulfur from sulfides. In many ores, the metal oxide is reduced with carbon (as coke) in a furnace, turning the oxide into metal and releasing carbon dioxide or monoxide. For some metals, especially very reactive ones, carbon isn’t enough to drive the reduction, so electricity is used to drive the extraction—electrolysis of the molten ore or a molten salt of the metal yields the metal at the electrodes. This is why the idea is that an ore contains metal compounds and extraction involves reduction, with electrolysis as a possible alternative when reduction with carbon isn’t feasible. Distillation isn’t a typical method for extracting metals from ores, and an ore isn’t simply pure metal, nor is it correct to say the metal can be obtained just by dissolving it in water.