Question #f6484

1 Answer
David G.
Mar 24, 2016

Gold and silver are examples of metals often found uncombined in pure elemental form, while metals such as copper, iron and aluminum are more often found combined in compounds with other elements.

Explanation:

Because of their low chemical activity, some metals are found in metallic form in the ground. Gold and silver are examples, and these are the metals humans knew about first, because they could be found by mining, or by panning in streams.

Other metals, like iron, are only found as ores, combined with oxygen or other elements (except that sometimes uncombined iron is found in meteorites).

Related questions
See all questions in Metallic Bonding
Impact of this question
4347 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License