Water pollution

Water pollution refers to the contamination of water bodies such as lakes, rivers, oceans, and groundwater by human activities. It occurs when harmful substances such as chemicals, waste materials, and other pollutants are discharged into bodies of water without proper treatment or disposal. Water pollution can have significant impacts on the environment, human health, and…

Atmospheric pollution

Atmospheric pollution refers to the presence of harmful substances in the air we breathe, including gases, particles, and biological molecules. This pollution can come from natural sources, such as wildfires and dust storms, but is primarily caused by human activities like burning fossil fuels, industrial processes, and transportation. The most common types of atmospheric pollutants…

Sulphate and Sulphide

Sulphate and sulphide are two different types of chemical compounds that contain sulfur. Sulphate (or sulfate in American English) is a salt or ester of sulfuric acid. It contains the sulfate ion (SO4²⁻), which consists of one sulfur atom and four oxygen atoms. Examples of sulfate compounds include magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt), sodium sulfate (Glauber’s…

Halides (excluding fluoride)

Halides are compounds that contain halogens, which are elements in group 17 of the periodic table. The halogens include fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, and astatine. Excluding fluoride, halides refer to compounds that contain any of these other halogens. Some examples of halides excluding fluoride include: These halides can be found in a variety of compounds,…

Groups I to V (only Ag+ , Hg2+, Cu2+, Pb2+, Fe3+, Cr3+, Al3+, Ca2+, Ba2+, Zn2+, Mn2+ and Mg2+)

The groups I to V you are referring to are likely the first five groups of the periodic table. These groups contain a variety of cations with different properties and reactivities. Group I cations include silver (Ag+), which is often used in jewelry and silverware, and mercury (Hg2+), which is a toxic heavy metal. Both…

Refining

Refining generally refers to the process of making something more pure or precise. It can refer to a variety of different contexts, including refining metals, refining oil, refining language or communication, refining ideas or concepts, refining processes or systems, and so on. In the context of refining metals, it typically involves the process of removing…

Cyanide process (silver and gold)

The cyanide process is a hydrometallurgical technique used to extract gold and silver from low-grade ores by converting them into soluble cyanide complexes. This process was first developed in the late 19th century and has since become the most commonly used method for extracting gold and silver from ores. The process involves the following steps:…

Electrochemical (aluminium) principles of metallurgy

Aluminium is a highly reactive metal, which means that it readily reacts with oxygen in the air to form a protective layer of aluminium oxide. This layer helps to prevent further oxidation of the metal and makes it an attractive material for a wide range of applications. The principles of metallurgy involve extracting metals from…

Thermodynamic (iron, copper, zinc)

Thermodynamics is the study of the relationships between energy, work, and heat in a system. Iron, copper, and zinc are all metallic elements with different thermodynamic properties. Iron has a high melting point of 1538°C and a boiling point of 2862°C. It has a specific heat capacity of 0.449 J/g·K and a heat of fusion…

Extraction of crude metal from concentrated ores

The extraction of crude metal from concentrated ores involves several steps that depend on the nature of the ore and the metal to be extracted. Here is a general process for extracting crude metal from concentrated ores: These are the basic steps involved in extracting crude metal from concentrated ores. However, the specific process used…