10/3/2015 CatExams

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Question33of41

5 ThemostcommonmetalintheEarths
crust,aluminum(oraluminium)wasnotdiscovered
until1825becauseitsisolatedstateissoreactive
thatfreenuggetsorflakesofthemetalarenever
foundinnaturerather,themetalistypicallyfound
10 aspartofanamalgam,mostcommonlybauxite
ore.Moreover,elementalaluminumisextremely
difficultandexpensivetoseparatefromitsores
bytraditionalchemicalmeans.Indeed,theextreme
reactivityofaluminumhelpsprotectitsmodern,
15 ubiquitousmanifestations,suchasaluminumfoil.
Thesurfaceofpurealuminuminstantlycombines
withatmosphericoxygentoformathinbutrobust
passivizationsealofaluminumoxidethat
preventsfurthercorrosion.Manyothermetals,such
20 asiron,arelessreactivethanaluminum,buttheir
superficialoxidesdonotformasswiftly,
completely,orimpermeably.
Forseveraldecadesafteritsdiscovery,
aluminumwasconsideredapreciousmetaland
25 wasmorecostlythangoldorplatinum,notbecause
ofanyfundamentalscarcity,butbecauseofits
elevatedcostofproduction.Thepriceofaluminum
suddenlyplummetedin1886,however,whentwo
23yearoldinventorsindependentlydevelopedan
30 electrolyticprocessofseparatingpurealuminum
fromabathofmoltenaluminumsalts,primarily
cryolite.Cryoliteitselfisrareenoughthatsynthetic
saltseventuallyreplaceditasthesolutionmedium.

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10/3/2015 CatExams

35

Whatcanbemostlogicallyinferredfromthepassageaboutiron?

Itcorrodesmorequicklythanaluminum.
Itsoxidesformmoreslowlyandrobustlythanthoseofaluminum.
Itischeapertoisolatefromitsoresbytraditionalchemicalmeansthanaluminum.
Itismoresusceptibletopassivizationthanisaluminum.
Itismorecommonlyfoundinitsisolated,elementalstate.

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Toanswerthisquestion,wemustinferfromfactsgivenaboutiron.Wearetoldthatmanyothermetals,suchas
iron,arelessreactivethanaluminum,buttheirsuperficialoxidesdonotformasswiftly,completely,or
impermeably.Sincewearealsotoldthattheoxidelayeronaluminumisthinbutrobustandpreventsfurther
corrosion,wecanlogicallyinferthattheoxidelayeronirondoesnotpreventfurthercorrosionaseffectivelyasthe
layeronaluminum,andthereforeironinalllikelihoodcorrodesmorequicklythanaluminum.

(A)CORRECT.Thisanswerchoicestatesourinferenceclearly.

(B)Wecanindeedconcludethatironoxidesformmoreslowly(notasswiftly),butwecannotconcludethatiron
oxidesformmorerobustlythanaluminumoxides.Infact,wearetoldthataluminumoxideformsathinbutrobust
seal,whileironoxides,amongothers,donotformascompletely,orimpermeably.Iftheironoxidesareless
completeandlessimpermeable,thenwecannotinferthattheyaremorerobustifanything,weshouldassumethat
theyarelessrobust.

(C)Weknowthatironislessreactivethanaluminum,butwecannotconcludethatironisthereforecheaperto
isolatefromitsores.Theextremereactivityofaluminumwasthereasonforthedifficultyandexpenseofseparating
aluminumfromitsoresbytraditionalchemicalmeans,butironcouldalsobeexpensivetoextractfromitsoresby
traditionalchemicalmeanswesimplydontknowenoughabouttheextractionprocesstomakeaninferencehere.

(D)Thischoiceisdirectlycontradictedbythepassage:itisaluminumthatformsamoreeffectivepassivization
seal,notiron.

(E)Althoughironislessreactivethanaluminum,wedonotknowwhetheritismorelikelytobefoundinitsisolated,
elementalstate.Ifanything,becauseitdoesnotformaseffectivepassivizationseals,wewouldexpectpureironto
corrodeawayinnature.
EndExamYoumustselectananswertoproceed.Next>>ProblemList<<Prev

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