Iron is commonly extracted from the ore haematite. A student writes down the main iron compound present in this ore before it is reduced in the blast furnac...
Question 1 Report
Iron is commonly extracted from the ore haematite. A student writes down the main iron compound present in this ore before it is reduced in the blast furnace. Which formula correctly represents the iron compound in haematite?
Answer Details
Haematite is the common iron ore and it contains iron(III) oxide. Iron in the +3 oxidation state pairs with oxide ions, O2−, so balancing the charges gives two Fe3+ for every three O2−, that is Fe2O3. This is the compound reduced in the blast furnace by carbon monoxide: Fe2O3 + 3CO → 2Fe + 3CO2.
FeO is iron(II) oxide and Fe3O4 is magnetite, a different ore containing iron in two oxidation states. FeCO3 is siderite, an iron carbonate, not an oxide at all.
Build the formula from the charges rather than recalling it blindly: name the ion charges, then balance them to zero.
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