As you may already know the Earth's crust is made  of rocks.

If you look closely at a rock, you will see that there are many different bits.

Some bits are  dull whereas other bits are rather shiny.

The main idea here is that all these components occur  naturally,

in other words they are not made in a factory or by a human being.

A naturally occurring  element or compound is known as a mineral.

Ore is simply a rock containing a high percentage  of a certain mineral.

For example, hematite contains a high percentage of iron.

The extraction of  iron from hematite is done in a blast furnace.  

Malachite contains a high percentage of copper. 

Cinnabar contains a high percentage of mercury.

We can think about an ore a bit like a  chocolate chip cookie.

We really want the chocolate. If there are more chocolate chips in  the cookie then the extraction process would be

more economically beneficial as more  minerals, in this case the chocolate, can be obtained.

If there are fewer chocolate  chips then the extraction process may not be as economically beneficial.

For the most  parts the minerals are oxides carbonates or sulfides of the metal of interest.

Some ores  of nonmetals include quartz

which contain a high percentage of silicon in the form of  silicon dioxide.

Limestone is also an ore.

Can you remember what is found in a high percentage  in limestone?

Pause, think and continue when ready.

The answer is calcium carbonate.

Limestone  contains a high percentage of calcium,

but calcium exists as calcium carbonate.

The iron  in hematite is mostly iron 3 oxide.  

The copper in malachite is mostly copper 2 carbonate. 

The mercury in cinnabar is primarily found as mercury 2 sulphide.

The extraction process for  each ore can vary but the key idea here is that  

the mineral must be present in a high enough  percentage or else the process would not be very economically beneficial.  

Now before we  can extract a selected metal we must first consider its reactivity

by looking at this  reactivity table.

The most reactive metals are at the top of the series and the least  reactive at the bottom of the series. 

Although carbon and hydrogen are not metals they are  still included in the table for comparison purposes. 

A more reactive element can displace  a less reactive element in a compound.

Can you remember what this type of reaction is  called?

Pause, think and continue when ready.

The answer is a single displacement reaction.

So to extract a metal from an ore

a single displacement reaction must occur.  

We can mimic  the extraction of copper from malachite

using copper 2 carbonate powder.

Copper 2 carbonate  is a green solid that thermally decomposes

to form copper 2 oxide and carbon dioxide upon heating.

Copper 2 oxide is a black powder

and believe it or not we can actually extract  copper metal from copper 2 oxide.

Place three spoonfuls of copper 2 oxide in a crucible and  one spoonful of charcoal, which is essentially carbon.

Heat this using a Bunsen burner with the  crucible lid slightly ajar for approximately five minutes.

While that is in progress why don't  you grab a piece of paper and a pencil

and predict the products of this single displacement  reaction.

Pause the lesson and resume when ready.

The carbon displaces copper in copper 2  oxide to give copper metal and carbon dioxide.

Remove the crucible from the Bunsen burner  and empty its contents into a beaker of cold water.  

Pour out the water in charcoal rinse  with water and repeat.

This must be done when the mixture is hot or else copper 2 oxide  will reform.

You will find little bits of copper metal at the bottom of a beaker. 

You  have successfully extracted copper metal.

In another lesson you will learn how to extract  iron using a form of carbon known as coke.

Some metals such as gold and platinum are not  found in ores but rather exist naturally as native metal.

Note that these are less reactive  metals and therefore do not form oxide, sulphide or carbonate compounds.

In summary, an ore is  a rock that contains a high percentage of a certain type of mineral

which can exist as an  oxide, sulphide or carbonate compound.

The mineral can be extracted by a single displacement  reaction using a more reactive element.