Question

Explain the terms gangue, flux and slag in metallurgy.

Answer 1

Hint:Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the science and the technology of metals.

Complete answer:
While performing metallurgy for a particular metal or extracting a metal from a ore we need to follow various steps.
The first term in the question is gangue. Gangue means the impurities present in the ore.
The next term is flux. During the process of removing the impurities present in the ore some of the impurities or the gangue cannot be easily removed. So for this, some substances are added which react with gangue to form slag. These substances are known as flux.
The next term given is slag. The substances which are formed when gangue and flux combine are known as slag. These substances can easily be removed.

Additional information:
The science of metallurgy is subdivided into two broad categories: chemical metallurgy and physical metallurgy. Chemical metallurgy is chiefly concerned with the reduction and oxidation of metals, and the chemical performance of metals. Subjects of study in chemical metallurgy include mineral processing, the extraction of metals, thermodynamics, electrochemistry, and chemical degradation (corrosion).
In contrast, physical metallurgy focuses on the mechanical properties of metals, the physical properties of metals, and the physical performance of metals. Topics studied in physical metallurgy include crystallography, material characterization, mechanical metallurgy, phase transformations, and failure mechanisms.

Note:
Metals can be extracted from minerals and ores. Ores are minerals from which metals can be extracted profitably and conventionally. So all ores are minerals but all minerals are not ores. For example ore of iron is Hematite.