Smelting

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/smelting

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the process classification?Pyrometallurgical technique for metal extraction from ores
2. What is the primary reducing agent?Carbon (coke, charcoal) is widely used, especially for iron and steel
3. What is smelting and how does it turn rocks into metal?Smelting is a hot cooking process that melts rocks to separate metal. It uses heat and sometimes charcoal to break the metal out of the ore. The metal becomes liquid and can be poured into shapes.
4. Why do we need a reducing agent like charcoal in smelting?Charcoal or coke reacts with the oxygen in the ore. This reaction turns the metal compound into pure metal. It also removes the non‑metal parts so the metal can be collected.

Pyrometallurgy: The use of high temperatures to extract or purify metals from their ores.
Reducing Agent: A substance that causes another substance to gain electrons, often by removing oxygen.
Gangue: The commercially worthless material that surrounds a valuable mineral in an ore deposit.
Slag: A glassy, stony waste material separated from molten metal during smelting or refining.