Category Chemistry

Some metals can be used on their own. Copper is used to make wires. Metals can also be mixed with other things, to make stronger or more useful metal. A mix of copper and zinc makes strong and shiny brass.

Bronze is a mix of copper and tin.

A metal that is used on its own is called a pure metal. A metal that is mixed with another material is called an alloy. Alloys can have special features to do special jobs. Mixing copper and tin makes bronze. This is stronger than pure tin and it doesn’t rust.

Some metals can be made very strong!

There are some alloys called super plastic alloys. These are made using a mix of aluminium and other materials. The mix is heated up to make the alloy both strong and stretchy. Super plastic alloys are useful in buildings, cars, trains and aeroplanes.

Some metals rust when they become wet.

Have you ever seen a rough, brown-red patch on a car? This is rust. Iron turns brown and rusty when it becomes wet. Some metals, such as gold, never tarnish (change colour). Special paints or coverings can stop iron cars from rusting.

Before we can use metal and make it into useful objects, it must be taken out of the rock. When the rocks have been dug out of the ground, they are taken to a factory. Here, the metal is taken out. This is done in different ways for different kinds of metal.

Rock can be taken to a factory by truck.

Metal ores are loaded onto trucks, ships and trains to take them from a mine to a factory. This may be in another country. At the factory, the ore goes though many processes, or changes. The metal is extracted or taken out of the rock. There are many ways to do this.

Continue reading “Rock of metal”

You can find some metals in rivers or buried at the bottom of the sea. Others, such as iron, are found in rocks deep under the ground. There are many ways to dig rocks out of the ground. This is called mining.

Have you ever seen a hole in the ground, the size of 1,000 football pitches? It may be an open cast mine, dug by machines and miners. Metals, such as copper, lie in rocks near the ground. They are dug from these open cast mines. Huge drills and blasts of explosives loosen the rocks. Special machines scoop out the rocks and load them onto trucks.

Continue reading “Mining for metals”

Most metals are found inside rocks, at the bottom of the sea and even in the centre of the Earth. All over the world, there are rocks above the ground and under the ground. Inside these rocks are different types of metals.

Hot, runny metals ooze out of this volcano.

It takes thousands of years for metals to form under the ground. Hot liquid rock, called magma, and other materials mix together. As the mix cools down, metals form inside rocks. A rock with plenty of metal inside it is called an ore. Sometimes they are pushed to the Earth’s surface by volcanoes.

Geologists are scientists who study rocks.

Metals are found all over the world. Some rocks only contain tiny amounts of metal, but others have large amounts. Digging up rocks is expensive so it is important for geologists to know where metals are found.

Metals are everywhere! You can see and touch metals in the kitchen, in the street or at school. Some metals are strong and shiny. Others are thin and bendy. This metal bridge is strong enough to carry lots of heavy cars and trucks.

This metal boat can push through ice.

We often say that something is made from metal but there are many different metals. Each one has a special feature that makes it useful for certain jobs. Strong steel is used to make machines and boats. Copper, aluminium, zinc, tin and lead are some other metals – there are many more!

Metals are hard and solid.

Metals are usually solid and hard. They have a fixed shape. Most metals turn into a runny liquid when heated to very high temperatures. They turn back into a solid shape when they cool down.

Metals are often shiny.

There are many words to describe the feel of metals and what they do. Metal tools do not bend easily. A metal bridge is strong. You can’t see through metal. Some metals are shiny and others turn rusty. Some metals feel smooth, and others feel rough. Metals are waterproof.