Reactivity of metals Revision - AQA Chemistry 8462

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33 objective pages available

Metal oxides6 objectives

Describe metal oxides as bases.
Explain that some metal oxides dissolve in water to form alkaline solutions.
Describe non-metal oxides as acidic.
Predict whether an oxide is acidic or basic from whether it contains a metal or a non-metal.
Link metal oxide reactions with acids to neutralisation and salt formation.
Distinguish an insoluble base from a soluble alkali when describing oxides.

The reactivity series11 objectives

Describe how metals can be arranged in order of reactivity.
Recall the order of potassium, sodium, lithium, calcium, magnesium, carbon, zinc, iron, hydrogen, copper and gold in the reactivity series.
Describe reactions of metals with water or steam.
Describe reactions of metals with dilute acids.
Use observations from reactions with water, steam or dilute acid to place a metal in the reactivity series.
Explain displacement reactions in terms of a more reactive metal displacing a less reactive metal from its compound.
Use displacement reaction results to compare metal reactivity.
Write word equations for metal displacement reactions.
Write balanced symbol equations for metal displacement reactions when formulae are supplied.
Explain oxidation as gain of oxygen and reduction as loss of oxygen in reactions involving metal compounds.
Identify which substance is oxidised and which is reduced in oxygen-transfer reactions.

Extraction of metals and reduction8 objectives

Explain that unreactive metals such as gold are found in the Earth as the metal itself.
Explain that most metals are found as compounds that require chemical reactions for extraction.
Explain why metals less reactive than carbon can be extracted from oxides by reduction with carbon.
Describe reduction of a metal oxide by carbon in terms of oxygen removal.
Write word equations for extracting metals from metal oxides using carbon.
Explain why metals more reactive than carbon cannot be extracted from oxides by carbon reduction.
Link extraction method to the position of a metal in the reactivity series.
Explain why electrolysis is needed to extract some reactive metals from molten compounds.

Oxidation and reduction in terms of electrons (HT only)8 objectives

(HT only) Define oxidation as loss of electrons.
(HT only) Define reduction as gain of electrons.
(HT only) Use electron transfer to explain displacement reactions.
(HT only) Identify the species oxidised in a redox reaction.
(HT only) Identify the species reduced in a redox reaction.
(HT only) Write simple ionic half equations for oxidation and reduction when ions and charges are supplied.
(HT only) Distinguish oxygen-transfer redox explanations from electron-transfer redox explanations.
(HT only) Link electron loss or gain to changes between atoms and ions.

non-metal oxideacidicbasealkalireactivity seriesdilute acid reactiondisplacement reactionword equationoxidationreductionReductionCarbon

Recall the basic definition of a metal oxide: When asked to describe metal oxides as bases, first state that a metal oxide is a compound formed when a metal reacts with oxygen, and that it behaves as a base because it can accept protons or donate hydroxide ions in water.
Understand Metal Oxides: Remember that some metal oxides dissolve in water to form alkaline solutions. Be prepared to explain this process in your answers.

Confusing Acidic and Basic Oxides: To fix this, students should study specific metal and non-metal oxides and their properties, remembering that while many metal oxides are basic, there are exceptions, and similarly for non-metal oxides.
Confusing Neutralisation with Other Reactions: To fix this, students should focus on the definition of neutralisation as the reaction between an acid and a base (metal oxide) that results in the formation of a salt and water, and practice writing balanced equations for these reactions.

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