Properties of Metals

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Uses of metals
How many different uses of metal can you spot?

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The value of metals
Metals are a highly valuable group of materials, used for
hundreds of products and produced in huge quantities.
 36,900,000 tons of aluminium
were produced in 2009.
 The production of copper
increased by more than
20 times in the 20th century.
 Gold is worth more than
£27,000 per kilogram.
Metals have played a vital role in human development.
Periods of civilization are even classified by the metals
that were used during those times, such as the Iron Age.

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Properties of metals
Typical metals have a lot of physical properties in common.
They:

 are lustrous (shiny)  are malleable (can be bent

and pressed into different
 are hard and strong shapes) and ductile (can be
drawn into wires)
 have a high density
 are good conductors of
heat and electricity

 have high melting and

boiling points (except
mercury, which is liquid at
room temperature).

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Au, Al, Cu, Fe and Ti

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Testing properties

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Other uses of metals
It is easy to find products made from metals, but some uses
of metals are not so widely known.
Metals are used as catalysts to
speed up reactions. Nickel is used
as a catalyst to make margarine.
Platinum is used in catalytic
converters in car exhausts to clean
up fumes and reduce pollution.
Compounds containing metals have
many uses. For example, some metal
compounds are used to colour materials
such as stained glass, and even make-up.
Can you find any other uses of metals?

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Building cars

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Aluminium or steel?
Aluminium and steel (an alloy of iron) can both be used to
make car bodies, but they have some different properties.

aluminium steel
density? low high
magnetic? no yes
corrodes? no yes
malleable? yes yes

Steel is significantly cheaper to produce than aluminium,

so a car made from steel will cost a lot less to produce,
resulting in a lower purchase price for the consumer.

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Aluminium or steel?
The mass of a car body which is made from aluminium will
be less than the mass of a car body made from steel.
Using a lighter car body will increase the fuel economy
and performance of the car as the engine will have to do
less work to make the car move.

A car made from steel will rust if the paintwork is damaged

or worn, whereas a car made from aluminium will not.

However, advances in anti-

corrosion coatings mean that
with normal use it is a number of
years before the body of a steel
car usually rusts significantly.

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The importance of properties

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Where are the transition metals?
The transition metals are the block of elements found
between group 2 and group 3 of the periodic table.

group 2 group 3

transition metals

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Common transition metals

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Iron vs. aluminium

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What is corrosion?
Corrosion is the gradual destruction of a metal due to
reactions with other chemicals in its environment.

Over time, corrosion

changes the appearance of
the metal as it breaks down
and becomes weaker.

Corrosion can seriously damage

metallic objects and structures.

Coating the surface of a metal

with paint and certain chemicals
can protect it from corrosion.

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Do all metals corrode?
Metals behave differently when potassium
exposed to the environment.
sodium
A metal’s resistance to corrosion calcium

increasing reactivity
is related to its position in the magnesium
reactivity series. The more aluminium
reactive a metal, the less
zinc
resistant it is to corrosion.
iron
Gold is an unreactive metal lead
and does not corrode easily. copper
Items made from gold can silver
survive for thousands of years
gold
and have even been found in
good condition underwater. platinum

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What is rusting?
Rusting is the specific name given to the corrosion of iron.
It is a chemical reaction between iron, oxygen and water.
The chemical name for rust is hydrated iron (III) oxide.

Rusting is an example of an oxidation reaction.

Oxidation is the addition of oxygen to an element.

iron + oxygen + water  hydrated iron (III) oxide

The opposite process, where oxygen is removed from a

compound, is known as reduction.

Acid rain and salt can increase the rate of rusting.

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Testing corrosion

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Why doesn’t aluminium corrode?
Aluminium is a very reactive metal. However, it does
not corrode in the presence of oxygen. Why is this?
oxygen in the
atmosphere

coating of
oxygen atoms

aluminium
atoms

The outer aluminium atoms react with oxygen in the

atmosphere to form a thin layer of aluminium oxide on the
metal’s surface, which protects the metal from corrosion.

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Glossary

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Multiple-choice quiz

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