Answer: See Bellow
Step-by-step explanation:
Melting a metal involves heating solid metal to its melting point, causing it to change from a solid to a liquid state. This process shapes metals into different forms, such as casting molten metal into molds to create specific shapes.
Smelting is a chemical reaction that reduces the metal oxide in the ore to the metal itself. On the other hand, smelting metal ore is extracting a metal from its ore by heating it with a reducing agent (such as carbon) to remove the oxygen and other impurities, leaving behind the metal. The resulting metal may then be melted to shape it as desired.
A primary smelting reaction for the extraction of iron from its ore (iron oxide) can be represented as follows:
Fe2O3 + 3CO → 2Fe + 3CO2
In this reaction, iron oxide reacts with carbon monoxide (CO) to produce iron (Fe) and carbon dioxide (CO2) as the byproduct. This reaction is carried out in a blast furnace, where the iron ore, coke (a form of carbon), and limestone (used as a flux to remove impurities) are fed into the furnace from the top. The coke burns in the hot air blast to produce carbon monoxide, reducing iron oxide to iron. The molten iron sinks to the bottom of the furnace and is then tapped off for further processing.