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

• 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

• 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

• 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

External links

• SS unit map
• SS Check Your Notes