Obtaining and using metals GapFill

Life cycle assessments can be used to judge the environmental impacts of products throughout their lifespan. They focus on several stages, starting from the extraction of raw materials, and ending with the product's  disposalsalemanufacturingpricesafetyretail success. As a community, people can use resources more responsibly by reusing or  recyclingresellingburningcrushingdumpingdisposing of them.

When a metal reacts with oxygen,  a salta metal acida metal oxidean alkali metala pure metala metal carbonate is formed. Metals can also react with non-metals to form  catalystsalloysbasessaltsprecipitatescarbonates. In these compounds, metals are positive ions, and more reactive metals will  magnetisechargedisplaceproducedissolvereact with less reactive metals. Many metals can be placed in an order of reactivity, called  a homologous seriesan oxidation columna displacement sequencea reduction groupa reactivity seriesa general series, by observing their reactions with water or  carbon dioxidecopper sulfatesilver nitrateethanoldilute acidnitrogen, because more reactive metals will react more vigorously.

Some metals, such as  goldmagnesiumlithiumcalciumsodiumiron, are considered unreactive, and are found pure in nature. Other metals have to be  neutraliseddugevaporatedpolymerisedacidifiedextracted from their ores. This is usually done by  an extractiona reductiona demagnetisinga carbonisationa precipitationa deoxidation reaction. The metal oxide reacts with  carbonic acidwatercarbonhydrogena metal carbonatecarbon monoxide to form the pure metal and carbon dioxide.