Periodic Properties

Topic

Atomic Science

Type of Resource

Unit of work

Year Level

Years 7-10

Subject

Science

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Introduction

The atomic structure and properties of elements are used to organise them in the Periodic Table (ACSSU186)Different types of chemical reactions are used to produce a range of products and can occur at different rates (ACSSU187)

Metals and fuels are some of the key building blocks for an advancing society in the 21st century and these are major outputs for the resources sector. Quite often, chemical elements or pure substances aren’t able to be extracted from the Earth’s crust. As such, ores and crude products are extracted from the ground and need to be processed and purified before they are in a suitable and usable form.

It is the role of chemists and chemistry to identify these reaction pathways from crude materials to pure products, and the role of chemical engineers to optimise processes to improve safety, increase yields and reduce processing time from input to output.