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Arda- An Inhabitant's Basic Guide to Useful Ores and Metals |
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Interrelation of Azurite and Malachite: the chemistry of 2 copper ores
Azurite and Malachite’s formulas are Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2
and Cu3(CO3)(OH)2 respectively.
Malachite is simply a more oxidized version of azurite. The reaction
equation is very complex, but can be simplified into two different representations
of the very slow process, which turns the rich blue of azurite into
the pleasant green of Malachite. Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2
+ Cu(OH)2
à 2Cu3(CO3)(OH)2 2Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2 + H20 à 3Cu3(CO3)(OH)2 + CO2
Tin Ores
Tin has two major purposes in common metallurgy. Tin is used
in many alloys, including brass, and more importantly it plays a key
role in the preservation of food. Tin cans in conjunction with many
preservatives provide an essentially infinite shelf life for many foods,
helping to curb hunger throughout the world. Survival on Arda would
be dependent on tin as a way to preserve food for long periods of time,
through periods of scarcity or inclement weather.
Sn(s)
+ O2(g) à SnO2(s) Cassiterite can be found in many hydrothermal veins near granite rock and throughout the world in igneous rock. |
Aluminum
Ores
Aluminum is critical to many structures from chairs to methods
of transportation. Due to its relatively high “strength to weight”
ratio, aluminum is used is a variety of weight sensitive structures,
thus the common use in airplanes and high performance automobiles.
Bauxite is a collection of many different minerals, including aluminum oxide, in the same mixture. Bauxite can be found in tropical regions where lengthened leeching and weathering of rocks has occurred in rocks composed of aluminum silicates, removing the silica and leaving aluminum hydroxide behind. Aluminum
oxidizes very readily and naturally in open air, even more so than
Iron. However, aluminum can be made into a very corrosion resistant
metal by actually coating it with a very stable oxide layer in a plating
process called anodization. To anodize aluminum, add the aluminum
to a solution of Sulfuric Acid (H2S), which serves as a
pH regulator and the following reaction will result: 2Al3+
+ 3O2- à Al2O3 Anodization is an electrolytic process, meaning an electromotive force is used to drive the oxidation reaction. Positively charged Aluminum ions (acting as the anode) are attracted to negatively charged oxide ions, resulting in the formation of an oxide layer. Anodized Aluminum (thicker than normal oxide layers) can be used for a wide variety of construction purposes, including transportation in cars and airplanes and in virtually any structure.
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