# Gold has been used by humans for thousands of years and is found as the native metal in the Earth's crust. In contrast, titanium is a relatively recently developed metal that must be extracted from its ore. Explain why gold has been used by humans for much longer than titanium, and describe one reason why titanium is now considered a more useful structural material than gold despite being harder to extract.

> OCR A-Level Chemistry B: Salters (H433) — DM Developing metals · Explain · 5 marks

> Gold has been used by humans for thousands of years and is found as the native metal in the Earth's crust. Titanium is a relatively recently developed metal that must be extracted from its ore using a complex industrial process.

## Mark scheme (5 marks)

1. Gold is found as the native/uncombined metal (in the Earth's crust), so it does not need to be extracted chemically
2. Gold is unreactive / low in the reactivity series, so it does not react with other elements and remains as the metal naturally
3. Titanium must be extracted from its ore (e.g. titanium dioxide) because it is more reactive and combined with other elements, requiring complex/expensive chemical processes
4. The development of new extraction techniques / technology allowed titanium to be obtained (only in the modern era)
5. Titanium has a higher strength-to-weight ratio / is stronger relative to its mass / is lighter than gold for the same strength, making it more useful as a structural material

## Key terms

- [native metal](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/glossary/native-metal)
- [ore](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/glossary/ore)

## Related

- [Revision notes for OCR A-Level Chemistry B: Salters (H433)](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/learn)
- [How to answer "Explain" questions](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/tools/command-word-cheatsheet)
- [Practice this with AI marking (free)](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/start)

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