Question

Why does iron or zinc not occur freely in nature?

Answer 1

• The order of the reactivity of metals is known as the reactivity series. In the reactivity series, the most reactive metals are placed at the top and the least reactive metals are placed at the bottom.

$\mathrm{K}>\mathrm{Na}>\mathrm{Ca}>\mathrm{Mg}>\mathrm{Al}>\mathrm{Zn}>\mathrm{Fe}>\mathrm{Pb}>\mathrm{Au}$

• Both iron and zinc are highly reactive, they easily react within the atmosphere and hence do not occur in nature in their free states.
• They exist in their sulphides, oxides and carbonates compounds, found in nature. $(\mathrm{ZnS},{\mathrm{Fe}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_3,{\mathrm{ZnCO}}_3)$