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Q.(i) Why is the zinc blende ore roasted before carbon reduction? Answer with balanced chemical equation.

(ii) What is Malachite? Write down its formula.
West Bengal WbchseWest Bengal HS (WBCHSE) Board 2016Subjective· 3mImportance★★★★★est
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Sulphide ores like zinc blende are first roasted to the oxide (which carbon can reduce efficiently); malachite is a basic copper(II) carbonate mineral, CuCO3⋅Cu(OH)2CuCO_3\cdot Cu(OH)_2.

(i) Why roast zinc blende before carbon reduction: Zinc blende is zinc sulphide, ZnS. Carbon (coke) reduces metal oxides efficiently, but does not reduce metal sulphides well directly — a direct reduction attempt is thermodynamically and kinetically unfavourable, and would also risk forming zinc sulphide-carbon byproducts rather than clean metal. So the ore is first roasted (heated strongly in excess air) to convert the sulphide to the oxide, which is then reduced by coke:

Roasting: 2ZnS(s)+3O2(g)→roast2ZnO(s)+2SO2(g)2ZnS(s) + 3O_2(g) \xrightarrow{roast} 2ZnO(s) + 2SO_2(g)

Reduction: ZnO(s)+C(s)→Zn(s)+CO(g)ZnO(s) + C(s) \rightarrow Zn(s) + CO(g)

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