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-As you go down on the reactivity series the metals lose their their electropositive power

o   potassium and sodium react with oxygen to make a superoxide, but with limited oxygen, they are only able to form oxides.

- The tendency of oxidization decreases as you go down the series

o   This is the same for reacting with water

There are three methods of purification of the metals found on the reactivity series:

1.         Electrolysis

2.         Heating with carbon

3.         Various chemical reactions

Electrolysis:

“Electrolysis is the process by which ionic substances are decomposed (broken down) into simpler substances when an electric current is passed through them. For electrolysis to work, the ions must be free to move. Ions are free to move when an ionic substance is dissolved in water or molten (melted).” – BBC Bitesize

ex.

Copper ions are inside the electrolyte solution; by passing electricity through the solution, positive copper ions stick to the cathode and the negative copper ions stick to the anode.

At the cathode, copper(II) ions are deposited as copper.

At the anode, copper goes into solution as copper(II) ions.

For every copper ion that is deposited at the cathode, in principle another one goes into solution at the anode. The concentration of the solution should stay the same.

All that happens is that there is a transfer of copper from the anode to the cathode. The cathode gets bigger as more and more pure copper is deposited; the anode gradually disappears

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The metal reactivity series is a commonly taught concept in chemistry, placing the metals, as its name suggests, in order of reactivity from most reactive to least reactive. It’s also a useful tool in predicting the products of simple displacement reactions involving two different metals, as well as providing an insight into why different metals are extracted from their ores in different manners. This graphic places a selection of common metals into order of reactivity, as well as showing their reactions with air, water and steam.

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Iron (Fe) extracted from its ore [haematite]
purpose: chemically reduce and physically convert iron oxide into liquid iron called hot metal.
iron oxide is reduced to Fe and carbon is oxidised
Fe2O3 + 3CO makes 2Fe + 3CO2

Iron oxide is reduced to molten iron when it reacts with carbon monoxide.

Steps in a Blast Furnace
1. Oxygen reacts with carbon to produce carbon dioxide and heat energy to heat up the furnace.
C(s) + O2 (g) makes CO2 (g)

2. more carbon is added to the furnace and reduces the CO2 into carbon monoxide.
CO2 (g) + C (s) makes 2CO(g)

3. iron (III) oxide is reduced.
2Fe2O3 (s) + 3C (s) makes 4Fe (l) + 3CO2 (g)

4. Carbon monoxide can be used instead of carbon.
Fe2O3 + 3CO (g) makes 2Fe + 3CO2

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Water is a poor conductor of electricity, but it does contain some hydrogen ions, H⁺, and hydroxide ions, OH⁻. These ions are formed when a small proportion of water molecules naturally dissociate.

Electrolysis of dissolved ionic compounds

An electrolyte formed by dissolving an ionic compound contains:

positive hydrogen ions from the water, and positive

metal

ions from the

compound

negative hydroxide ions from the water, and negative ions from the compound

The ions compete at each electrode to gain or lose electrons.

At the cathode

Whether hydrogen or a metal is produced at the cathode depends on the position of the metal in the metal reactivity series:

the metal will be produced at the cathode if it is less

reactive

than hydrogen

hydrogen will be produced at the cathode if the metal is more reactive than hydrogen

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Aluminium is the most abundant (found in large quantities) metal in the Earth's crust. It is expensive, largely because of the amount of electricity required in the extraction process.

Aluminium ore is called bauxite. The bauxite is purified to produce aluminium oxide, a white powder from which aluminium can be extracted.

The extraction is done by electrolysis. The ions in the aluminium oxide must be free to move so that electricity can pass through it. Aluminium oxide has a very high melting point (over 2000°C) so it would be expensive to melt it. Aluminium oxide does not dissolve in water, but it does dissolve in molten cryolite. This is an aluminium compound with a lower melting point than aluminium oxide. The use of cryolite reduces some of the energy costs involved in extracting aluminium.

The diagram shows an aluminium oxide electrolysis cell. The negative electrodes (cathodes) and the positive electrodes (anodes) are made of graphite, a form of carbon.

During electrolysis:

positively charged aluminium ions gain electrons from the cathode, and form molten aluminium

oxide ions lose electrons at the anode, and form oxygen molecules

The oxygen reacts with the carbon in the electrodes, forming carbon dioxide which bubbles off. Carbon is therefore lost from the positive electrodes, so they must be replaced frequently. This adds to the cost of the process.

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Include things like those you have already researched, but also link those notes to each other and add to it by including :
Physical properties of the metals
Extraction
Reactions

I would like you to also look at 'Displacement', this is the next bit of the topic