Do any people actually make their own metal.. like start with heating the earth material at high temperatures, mixing it.. putting it in the oven and then also making their metal things with it? And no i don't mean buying metal and then using machines/computers to shape the metal..like they do in motorcycle companies. I mean metal from scratch.ALSO i mean the average person, not big corporations. have any of you done it?
2006-06-28 15:35:10 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
yes it is possible but not practical, if you want more info contact me.
2006-06-28 15:43:13 · answer #1 · answered by biggun4570 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've always wondered how to do it. It's something that should be taught in chemistry class, and not a guarded secret of corporations. You'd be surprised how many basic functions of engineering are not popularly known, yet are essential for modern society. What if a great disaster occured and only 1/100 of the population was left, all average joes. Maybe I'll write a book on how to:
distill metal
engineer a pencil
organize a farm to feed everyone
engineer toothpaste
make soap
etc.
Very useful information, if we didn't one day have an economy.
2006-06-28 22:43:00 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are different types of metal. There is iron, copper, zinc, lead, aluminum, gold, nickel, silver, etc. If you can find the ore of the metal that you are wanting to refine you can extract it from the ore using a furnace. Iron ore I believe is the most common. Actually bauxite, which is more common than iron ore, is what is needed to make aluminum but the process needed to convert it into mettalic form is very expensive. At one time aluminum was more rare than gold. When refining metals you ususally need to add other flux type materials to the mix to help separate the metal from the slag material. I don't know of any people who do this at home. It is mostly done in large refineries. It is definitely possible to do.
2006-06-28 22:49:29 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sure people have done it. That was people's only choice 200 years ago (or the smith's only choice). People don't usually do it themselves now because of the factotries that do it. Actually getting the ore is probably the hardest part. From there on, you just have to heat it to a really high temperature to melt it and remove impurities and then pour it into a mold.
2006-06-28 22:46:33 · answer #4 · answered by q2003 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ok, yes you can make different metal alloys on your own, it's not that difficult, provided you can get a high enough temperature. However, alloys are not true metals, only mixtures of metals which have combined properties of both. It is, however, possible to make a true transition, alkili, or alkili earth metal on your own, however, this requires far more skill and materiel than i believe that you would have. it would require smashing protons and neutrons together to create new atomic nucleii (aka nuclear fusion) which requires massive amounts of energy to perform, as the protons in each respective "old" nucleus repel each other viciously. Get enough together and you have a nucleus of a true, pure metal.
2006-06-28 23:22:40 · answer #5 · answered by The Frontrunner 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Alchemy, if I am not mistaken was the study in which they tried to change metals into gold. Metallurgy is the study of creating metals. I actually had this question in my mind a few weeks ago and forgot to look into it. I am now - google :D
Update - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extractive_metallurgy
Update2 - This explains how to - http://science.howstuffworks.com/iron1.htm
2006-06-28 22:51:48 · answer #6 · answered by Mike J 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think that would be called alchemy... of course im not all that sure...
2006-06-28 22:38:15 · answer #7 · answered by anonymityfactor 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋