← Back to the activity

Class 10 Science — Metals, non-metals and the reactivity series

Rank metals by the activity series, work out the ion a metal or non-metal forms from its electron shells, and say how each band of the series is won from its ore and kept from corroding.

Name: ________________________

  1. 1.Match each description to the term the chapter gives it.

    • A mineral rich enough to extract the metal from at a profit
    • The soil and sand that come up with the ore
    • Heating a sulphide ore strongly in plenty of air
    • Heating a carbonate ore strongly in limited air
    • The insoluble leavings that settle under the anode
    • Ore
    • Roasting
    • Gangue
    • Anode mud
    • Calcination

  2. 2.Sort each metal by how the chapter says it is won from the earth.

    Groups: Found in the native state · Reduction using carbon · Electrolysis of the molten compound

    • Sodium
    • Gold
    • Iron
    • Aluminium
    • Zinc
    • Silver

  3. 3.Calcium dropped into water starts to float after a few seconds. Why?

    • a) It melts and spreads out into a thin film
    • b) Calcium is less dense than water to begin with
    • c) The water heats up and pushes it upwards
    • d) Bubbles of hydrogen stick to its surface

  4. 4.Sodium is stored in a jar of kerosene oil rather than on a shelf. Why?

    • a) Kerosene makes it easier to cut
    • b) It loses its shine and stops conducting
    • c) It reacts with oxygen so vigorously that it would catch fire in the open
    • d) It dissolves in the damp air of a laboratory

  5. 5.A cell for refining copper is drawn below, with the two plates hanging in the solution and the battery marked. Tap the plate the pure copper builds up on.

    Write the number of the part.

    12

  6. 6.Galvanised iron sheets are coated with a thin layer of which metal?

    • a) Aluminium
    • b) Zinc
    • c) Tin
    • d) Chromium

  7. 7.Iron oxide is lit with aluminium powder and iron runs out molten. What is this reaction used for?

    • a) Galvanising sheets of steel
    • b) Turning a sulphide ore into an oxide
    • c) Refining copper
    • d) Joining railway tracks and cracked machine parts

  8. 8.Which pair of statements about ionic compounds matches what the chapter reports?

    • a) They melt at high temperatures and dissolve in water rather than in kerosene
    • b) They melt at low temperatures and dissolve in water rather than in kerosene
    • c) They melt at high temperatures and dissolve in kerosene rather than in water
    • d) They melt at low temperatures and dissolve in kerosene rather than in water

Answer key — Class 10 Science — Metals, non-metals and the reactivity series

  1. 1. A mineral rich enough to extract the metal from at a profit → Ore; The soil and sand that come up with the ore → Gangue; Heating a sulphide ore strongly in plenty of air → Roasting; Heating a carbonate ore strongly in limited air → Calcination; The insoluble leavings that settle under the anode → Anode mud
  2. 2. Gold → Found in the native state; Silver → Found in the native state; Zinc → Reduction using carbon; Iron → Reduction using carbon; Sodium → Electrolysis of the molten compound; Aluminium → Electrolysis of the molten compound
  3. 3. d) Bubbles of hydrogen stick to its surface
  4. 4. c) It reacts with oxygen so vigorously that it would catch fire in the open
  5. 5. 2 — The plate wired to the negative terminal
  6. 6. b) Zinc
  7. 7. d) Joining railway tracks and cracked machine parts
  8. 8. a) They melt at high temperatures and dissolve in water rather than in kerosene