Question

B) Why is aluminium extracted using electrolysis and not carbon?

Answer 1

Aluminum is more reactive than carbon so it must be extracted from its compounds using electrolysis.

Step-by-step explanation:

Even though aluminum is more abundant than iron in the Earth's crust, aluminum is more expensive than iron. This is mainly because of the large amounts of electrical energy used in the extraction process.

Answer 2

The extraction is done by electrolysis. The ions in the aluminium oxide must be free to move so that electricity can pass through it. Aluminium oxide has a very high melting point (over 2000°C) so it would be expensive to melt it. The use of cryolite reduces some of the energy costs involved in extracting aluminium.