How can you tell if a stone contains iron?
Iron belongs to the group of native elements. Native iron is a mineral of terrestrial and cosmogenic origin. The nickel content is 3 percent higher in terrestrial iron compared to cosmogenic iron. It also contains impurities of magnesium, cobalt and other trace elements. Native iron has a light gray color with a metallic luster; inclusions of crystals are rare. This is a fairly rare mineral with a hardness of 4-5 units. and a density of 7000-7800 kg per cubic meter. Archaeologists have proven that native iron was used by ancient people long before they developed the skills to smelt iron metal from ore. This metal in its original form has a silvery-white tint; the surface quickly becomes covered with rust in high humidity or in oxygen-rich water. This rock has good ductility, melts at a temperature of 1530 degrees Celsius, and can be easily forged into products and rolled. The metal has good electrical and thermal conductivity; it is additionally distinguished from other rocks by its magnetic properties. When interacting with oxygen, the surface of the metal is covered with the resulting film, which protects it from corrosive effects. And when there is moisture in the air, iron oxidizes and rust forms on its surface. In some acids, iron dissolves and hydrogen is released.
The history of iron
Iron had a huge impact on the development of human society and continues to be valued today. It is used in many industries. Iron helped primitive man master new methods of hunting and led to the development of agriculture thanks to new tools. Pure iron in those days was part of fallen meteorites. To this day, there are legends about the unearthly origin of this material. Metallurgy dates back to the middle of the second millennium BC. At that time, Egypt mastered the production of metal from iron ore.
Where is iron mined?
In its pure form, iron is found in celestial bodies. The metal was discovered in lunar soil. Now iron is mined from rock ore, and Russia occupies a leading position in the extraction of this metal. Rich deposits of iron ore are located in the European part, in Western Siberia and the Urals.
Areas of use
Iron is essential in the production of steel, which has a wide range of applications. This material is used in almost every production. Iron is widely used in everyday life; it can be found in the form of forged products and cast iron. Iron allows you to give the product different shapes, so it is used in forging and creating gazebos, fences and other products. All housewives use iron in the kitchen, because products made of cast iron are nothing more than an alloy of iron and carbon. Cast iron cookware heats up evenly, maintains temperature for a long time and lasts for decades. Almost all cutlery includes iron, and stainless steel is used to make dishes and various kitchen utensils and such necessary items as shovels, forks, axes and other useful utensils. This metal is also widely used in jewelry.
Chemical composition
Telluric iron contains impurities of nickel (Ni) 0,6-2%, cobalt (Co) up to 0,3%, copper (Cu) up to 0,4%, platinum (Pt) up to 0,1%, carbon; in meteorite iron, nickel ranges from 2 to 12%, cobalt – about 0,5%, and there are also impurities of phosphorus, sulfur, and carbon. Behavior in acids: dissolves in HNO3.
In nature, there are several modifications of iron – the low-temperature one has a bcc cell (Im3m), the high-temperature (at temperatures > 1179K) the fcc cell (Fm(-3)m). Found in large quantities in meteorites. Widmanstätten figures appear in iron meteorites when etched or heated.
Origin: telluric (terrestrial) iron is rarely found in basaltic lavas (Uifak, Disko Island, off the western coast of Greenland, near Kassel, Germany). At both points, pyrrhotite (Fe1-xS) and cohenite (Fe3C) are associated with it, which is explained by both reduction by carbon (including from the host rocks) and the decomposition of carbonyl complexes such as Fe(CO)n. In microscopic grains, it has more than once been established in altered (serpentinized) ultrabasic rocks, also in paragenesis with pyrrhotite, sometimes with magnetite, due to which it arises during reduction reactions. Very rarely found in the oxidation zone of ore deposits, during the formation of swamp ores. Findings have been recorded in sedimentary rocks associated with the reduction of iron compounds with hydrogen and hydrocarbons.
Almost pure iron was found in lunar soil, which is associated with both meteorite falls and magmatic processes. Finally, two classes of meteorites – stony-iron and iron – contain natural iron alloys as a rock-forming component. Native iron family (according to Godovikov)
Native iron group
< 2,9, rarely up to 6,4 at. % Ni - ferrite
< ~ 6,4 at. % Ni - kamacite Native Nickel Group
> 24 at. % Ni – taenite
62,5 – 92 at. % Ni – awaruite Ni3Fe
(Ni, Fe) – Native nickel Iron (English Iron, French Fer, German Eisen) is one of the seven metals of antiquity. It is very likely that man became acquainted with iron of meteorite origin earlier than with other metals. Meteorite iron is usually easy to distinguish from terrestrial iron, since it almost always contains from 5 to 30% nickel, most often 7-8%. Since ancient times, iron has been obtained from ores that occur almost everywhere. The most common ores are hematite (Fe2O3,), brown iron ore (2Fe2O3, ZN2O) and its varieties (swamp ore, siderite, or spar iron FeCO 3), magnetite (Fe304) and some others. All these ores, when heated with coal, are easily reduced at a relatively low temperature, starting from 500 o C. The resulting metal had the appearance of a viscous spongy mass, which was then processed at 700-800 o With repeated forging. In ancient times and the Middle Ages, the seven then known metals were compared with the seven planets, which symbolized the connection between metals and celestial bodies and the celestial origin of metals. This comparison became common more than 2000 years ago and is constantly found in literature until the XNUMXth century. In the II century. n. e. iron was compared with Mercury and was called mercury, but later it began to be compared with Mars and called Mars, which, in particular, emphasized the external similarity of the reddish color of Mars with red iron ores.
Properties of the Mineral
| Color | Steel grey, grey-black, white on polished surface |
| Line color | Grey-black |
| Origin of the name | The designation of the chemical element is from the Latin ferrum, Iron – from the Old English word meaning this metal |
| Opening place | Qeqertarsuaq Island (Disko Island), Qaasuitsup, Greenland |
| Opening year | known since ancient times |
| IMA status | valid, first described before 1959 (before IMA) |
| Chemical formula | Fe |
| Brilliance | metal |
| Transparency | opaque |
| Cleavage | imperfect in |
| Kink | hooked splintery |
| Hardness | 4 5 |
| Thermal properties | P. tr. Melting point (pure iron) 1528°C |
| Typical impurities | Ni,C,Co,P,Cu,S |
| Strunz (8th edition) | 1/A.07-10 |
| Hey’s CIM Ref. | 1.57 |
| Dana (7th edition) | 1.1.17.1 |
| Molecular weight | 55.85 |
| Cell Options | a = 2.8664Å |
| Number of formula units (Z) | 2 |
| Unit cell volume | V 23.55 ų |
| Twinning | by |
| Point group | m3m (4/m 3 2/m) – Hexoctahedral |
| Space group | Im3m (I4/m 3 2/m) |
| separateness | by (112) |
| Density (calculated) | 7.874 |
| Density (measured) | 7.3 – 7.87 |
| Type | isotropic |
| Color in reflected light | white |
| Selection form | Form of crystalline deposits: dense grains with irregular sinuous outlines, films, dendrites, and occasionally nuggets. |
| Classes on taxonomy of the USSR | Metals |
| IMA classes | Native elements |
| Syngonia | cubic |
| Microhardness | VHN100=160 |
| Ductility | Yes |
| Magneticity | Yes |
| Literature | Zaritsky P.V., Dovgopolov S.D., Samoilovich L.G. Composition and genesis of the native iron ore occurrence in the town of Ozyornaya in the river basin. Chickens. – Bulletin of Kharkov University, 1986, No. 283 (Central Siberia) Meltser M.A. and others. Native iron in the gold-bearing veins of the Allah-Yun region and some questions of their genesis. – New data on the geology of Yakutia. Ya., 1975, p. 74-78 |
Minerals Catalog
View the mineral Iron in mineral stores
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Related Articles
- Iron is one of the seven metals of antiquity
It is very likely that man became acquainted with iron of meteorite origin earlier than with other metals
Is the stone magnetic? Interesting) magnetic iron ore?) kick me when it turns out what these wonderful stones are)))
2021-11-02 02/11/2021 16:26:12
#2952598
I’ll try to make a video then
2021-11-02 02/11/2021 16:33:04
#2952599
2021-11-02 02/11/2021 16:46:24
#2952603
Is it dangerous to eat iron or not?
2021-11-02 02/11/2021 18:36:57
#2952655
Well, I would say that this already means that the stone is not neutral. In general, it looks like gabbro-diabase, but my stones do not have such properties. You can put it there, but where is the guarantee that the stone will not add problems in the long term? I have traces of metals and minerals on my diabase, but so far I have not noticed any problems.
2021-11-02 03/11/2021 00:53:04
#2952816
Own on Aqa.ru, Candidate for Advisors
zheka804
if eating iron is dangerous or not
Dip an iron spoon into water, if the spoon dissolves, then the iron is dangerous.
2021-11-02 03/11/2021 01:00:12
#2952818
vstakhov
Dip an iron spoon into water if the spoon dissolves
then you have nitric acid in the aquarium
2021-11-02 03/11/2021 01:09:41
#2952820
Own on Aqa.ru, Candidate for Advisors
Kison
then you have nitric acid in the aquarium
Heh, then any iron is unlikely to be dangerous for the inhabitants of nitric acid. But in general, I mean that everything that is insoluble in water and not subject to biodegradation is not dangerous. Iron, like the vast majority of compounds and minerals containing iron, is insoluble in water under normal conditions.
2021-11-02 03/11/2021 01:14:59
#2952823
vstakhov
Iron, like the vast majority of compounds and minerals containing iron, is insoluble in water under normal conditions.
“Gold iodide (AuI) is a lemon-yellow solid with a density of 8,25 g/cm3. Decomposes into elements when heated to 177°C or under the influence of water. Reduced by sulfur dioxide or carbon monoxide to gold.”(c)
Technically, there are 4 grams of gold per ton in seawater) how did it get there? but yes, apparently special conditions are needed for the oxidation reaction.
The confusing fact is that iron oxides dissolve quite well in water; a paper clip thrown into water will dissolve quickly enough, within a couple of months. what prevents inclusions of the same iron from dissolving in the stone?)
2021-11-02 03/11/2021 01:26:36
#2952825
2768 1727
St. Petersburg
10 seconds
Break off a small piece of stone and place it in a container with acetic acid.
Watch the behavior of the stone and the color of the acid.
2021-11-02 03/11/2021 01:44:00
#2952828
Own on Aqa.ru, Candidate for Advisors
Kison
What confuses us is the fact that iron oxides dissolve quite well in water; a paper clip thrown into water will dissolve quickly enough, in a couple of months
Why would she dissolve? It will rust – yes. Rust is an amphoteric iron oxide-hydroxide and is practically insoluble in water (again at normal pH, lower the pH to 3 and the rust will begin to dissolve). But due to its shape, rust can form small colloidal flakes.
That is, at neutral PH the solubility is a couple of micrograms per liter (especially considering that iron will be in the oxidation state +3), and it will dissolve for a very, very long time.
Kison
Technically, there are 4 grams of gold per ton in seawater
Milligram only. that is, a few micrograms per liter. It’s just that with volumes of solvent comparable to sea water, even a substance with a solubility of ~1*10^-12 mol/l will still have some ions hanging out in the water. But all this is devoid of practical meaning in the context of aquarium keeping, especially freshwater aquarium keeping (sea water is generally a more aggressive solvent than fresh water).
MTumanov
Break off a small piece of stone and place it in a container with acetic acid.
This makes sense if your aquarium is filled with acetic acid and not water, of course.
