A-level Chemistry/OCR (Salters)/The Steel Story

The Steel Story is the ninth unit in the Salters Advanced Chemistry course.

Transition metal salts usually form coloured solutions. From left to right, aqueous solutions of:

* cobalt(II) nitrate, Co(NO3)2 (red)
* potassium dichromate(VI), K2Cr2O7 (orange)
* potassium chromate(VI), K2CrO4 (yellow)
* nickel(II) chloride, NiCl2 (green)
* copper(II) sulfate, CuSO4 (blue)
* potassium manganate(VII), KMnO4 (purple).

Chemical Storylines sections

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  • SS1 What is steel?
  • SS2 How is steel made?
  • SS3 Rusting
  • SS4 Recycling steel
  • SS5 A closer look at the elements in steel
  • SS6 Summary

Chemical Ideas sections

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  • 2.4 Electronic structure: sub-shells and orbitals (revision)
  • 6.1 Light and electrons (revision)
  • 6.7 Where does colour come from?
  • 9.1 Oxidation and reduction (revision)
  • 9.2 Redox reactions and electrode potentials
  • 9.3 Predicting the direction of redox reactions
  • 11.5 The d block: characteristics of transition elements
  • 10.5 How do catalysts work? (revision)
  • 11.6 The d block: complex formation

Activities

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  • SS1.1 How much manganese is there in a paper clip?
  • SS1.2 A redox titration
  • SS2.1 Why is blast furnace iron so impure?
  • SS2.2 What changes occur during steelmaking?
  • SS2.3 Getting the ‘heat balance’ right (Optional extension)
  • SS2.4 How much aluminium do we need to add? (Optional extension)
  • SS2.5 Which is the right steel for the job? (Optional extension)
  • SS3.1 A simple redox reaction
  • SS3.2 Simple electrochemical cells
  • SS3.3 More electrochemical cells
  • SS3.4 How does steel rust?
  • SS3.5 Understanding redox reactions
  • SS5.1 Investigating the oxidation states of vanadium
  • SS5.2 How do transition metal ions act as catalysts?
  • SS5.3 Looking at some transition metal complexes
  • SS6 Check your notes on The Steel Story
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