Aluminium is a widely used structural metal, particularly in the aerospace industry. It is extracted industrially by the electrolysis of a molten mixture of aluminium oxide and cryolite.
Explain, in terms of reactivity, why reduction with carbon cannot be used to extract aluminium from aluminium oxide.
110 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE Chemistry 5.1 Obtaining and using metals, covering 5.1.1 The reactivity series of metals, 5.1.2 Displacement reactions as redox reactions, 5.1.3 Extracting metals from ores by reduction, 5.1.4 Biological methods of metal extraction, 5.1.5 Resistance to oxidation and recycling metals, and 5.1.6 Life cycle assessment. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.