Relationship Between a Metals
Reactivity and When It Was
Discovered
By: Dana Asaad
Class: 8B
Teacher: Mr. Rhodes
The question is “Does a connection or
relationship exist between the reactivity of a
metal and when it was discovered?” Well to
figure that out we would need to have a list of
metals and, find out when each one was
discovered. We would also need to figure out
how reactive each metal is and later compare
them. But before we do that lets learn a little
more about each of these metals.
Periodic Table of Elements
Most elements in the periodic table are metals.
Metals can be divided into separate groups alkali
metals, alkaline earth metals, and transition
metals. The transition metals can be divided into
smaller groups, which are the lanthanides and
actinides.
Important Facts on Metals
• The first metal to be discovered was Gold,
followed by Copper and then Silver.
• There are 86 metals discovered so far out of 118
elements.
• Some Metals are uncombined in nature but the majority of
metals are found combined in their ores. An ore is a rock
which contains minerals including the many important
elements including metals.
Next We Will Look At
Different Properties of
The 3 First Metals
Discovered
Gold
Gold is a soft, dark, quite heavy, shiny yellowish metal. Gold is
used all around the world by many people living in many different
countries. The uses of gold right now are for, money, jewelry, and
is now being used for tooth fillings. Many people use it for jewelry
because of it’s great luster and beauty. Gold is also used to make
electronic equipment like computers and even space equipment.
The color of this metal is also called gold. Gold is also ductile and
can be recycled and reused many times by a person. Gold is even
a good conductor of electricity. Gold is found uncombined in
nature which is probably why it was so easy for scientists to
discover it.
Copper
Copper was the second metal to be discovered,
in 4200BC. It is a good conductor of heat and was
used to make the first metallic tools and
weapons. Copper is also malleable which means
it can bend, flex and easily be shaped without
breaking or cracking. Copper can be rolled into
sheets as thin as 1/500 of an inch. Copper is
also ductile and can be drawn out into a thin
wire. It isn’t very reactive and this is why we use
copper for our house wiring.
Silver
Silver was the third metal to be discovered. It
was discovered in 4000BC. Silver conducts
electricity very well. Silver may be harder than
Gold but it is very ductile and malleable. Silver
is usually used as jewelry, dental alloys,
silverware, and photography.
Metals of Antiquity
There are seven Metals of Antiquity which are
• 1)Gold
• 2) Copper
• 3) Silver
• 4) Lead
• 5) Tin
• 6) Iron
• 7) Mercury
Metals Of Antiquity
There were 24 known metals discovered in the 19th century and, 12
of them were found in the 18th century. So therefore the other 12
elements which were discovered were elements that had been
found before the 17th century ended. Arsenic, antimony, zinc, and
bismuth were all discovered during the 1300s and the 1400s, but in
the 1600s platinum was made or established into a metal. The
Metals of Antiquity is basically a special category which includes 7
metals of the last 12 known metals. These 7 metals are known as
Gold, Copper, Silver, Lead, Tin, smelted Iron and Mercury. The 7
metals of Antiquity are all found at the lower part of the reactivity
series which means they aren’t very reactive. Although, the metal
Iron is found in the middle of the reactivity series which means it is
more reactive than the other 6 metals. Iron is found right above Tin
and below Zinc in the reactivity series of metals.
Metals Discovered During The 18th
Century
The metals which were discovered in the 18th
are known as:
If you look carefully you will see a pattern which is that the earlier the
metal was discovered the less reactive it is .
Metals Discovered in the 19th Century
These are some
of the metals
which were
discovered
during the 19th
century.
Metals Discovered In the 19th Century
Continued…..
Metals Discovered In the 20th Century
We still see the same pattern which
means our theory is still true until now,
but just to make sure we will do the
same experiment but this time we will
use fewer metals so that can see the
pattern better.
Different Metals and When They
Were Discovered
Next we will look at the reactivity of
these metals
Reactivity of Metals
What We Notice
What we notice is that the metals, which were discovered
earlier are the less reactive and the metals which were
discovered later on in history.
Conclusion
The results from our previous experiments
brings us to the conclusion that the less reactive a
metal is, the earlier it was discovered and the
metals that were discovered later on in history
would have been more reactive. The reason for
this is because the reactive metals were probably
in a combined state which made it harder for
scientists to extract it from its ore. For example,
back then when gold was discovered they didn’t
have modern technology like they did when they
discovered potassium.
Conclusion Continuation
Therefore if they didn’t have modern technology they wouldn’t
be able to get the more reactive metals because they would most
likely be in combined state and harder to extract while less
reactive metals like gold can easily be found freely in nature. The
pattern does not always occur though. For example, in the
reactivity series it says that Copper is more reactive than Silver
but Silver was discovered after Copper. So this pattern does not
always occur and the reason for this is because there is only a 200
year difference between both metals. So if it’s a short period of
time like the example mentioned above with Silver and Copper,
the rule still stays the same because as I said before they were
discovered in the same time and century so there's not much of a
difference between them.
Bibliography
1) http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090326
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2) 2)http://www.unr.edu/sb204/geology/props.html
http://bullion.nwtmint.com/silver_uses.php
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4)
http://www.chemguide.co.uk/inorganic/extraction/introducti
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Bibliography
5) http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver
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http://www.unr.edu/sb204/geology/props.ht
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http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=200801151
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Bibliography
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http://answers.ask.com/Science/Chemistry/wher
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http://answers.yourdictionary.com/science/whodiscovered-tin.html
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