C. Matter and Energy · Pure Substances and Mixtures

What's in Your Phone? Pure Substances in Technology

C1.1 C2.8 A1.1 A1.5About 50 minutes

Learning goals

I can identify pure substances (elements) found in technological devices such as phones and laptops.
I can analyse the social and environmental impacts of getting and disposing of these substances, from local and global perspectives.
I can use a research process to find and evaluate information.
I can suggest responsible ways to use and dispose of devices.

Words to know

technological device
A tool or machine made using science and engineering, like a phone, laptop, tablet or game console.

electronic waste (e-waste)
Old, broken or unwanted electronic devices that are thrown away.

rare earth elements
A group of metal elements used in strong magnets, screens and other technology. Despite the name, many are not truly rare, but they are hard to separate and refine.

toxic
Poisonous; able to harm living things.

supply chain
All the steps a product goes through, from mining raw materials to the store shelf.

extended producer responsibility
Rules that make companies responsible for collecting and recycling their products at the end of their life.

A periodic table in your pocket

A smartphone fits in your hand, but it contains dozens of different elements from all over the world. Many of them are pure substances (elements) or are made from them: shiny gold in the connectors, copper in the wires, lithium and cobalt in the battery.

Where do these substances come from? Who mines them? And what happens to them when you're done with the phone?

Element (symbol)	Where in a device	Why it's used
Copper (Cu)	Wires and circuit boards	Conducts electricity very well
Gold (Au)	Connectors and circuit boards	Conducts well and doesn't rust or tarnish
Silicon (Si)	Computer chips	Can be made to control the flow of electricity
Lithium (Li)	Rechargeable batteries	Very light; stores lots of energy
Cobalt (Co)	Many rechargeable batteries	Helps batteries store energy and stay stable
Aluminium (Al)	Cases and frames of many devices	Light and strong
Tin (Sn)	Solder that joins parts	Melts at a low temperature
Neodymium (Nd)	Tiny magnets in speakers and vibration motors	Makes very strong magnets (a rare earth element)

Some elements in a smartphone or laptop.

Where some of the table's elements are found in a phone (simplified, not to scale). Each one was chosen for a property: copper and gold conduct, lithium is light, neodymium makes strong magnets.

Just for fun

Funny but true: Ontario has a town called Cobalt, named after the mineral found there during a silver rush over 100 years ago. People from there can honestly say their hometown is in your phone battery.

Impacts of getting the substances

Global perspective:

Most of these elements must be mined and then separated and refined from ore, using lots of energy and water and creating waste rock and tailings.
More than half of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Some of it is dug by hand in small, unsafe mines, and there have been reports of children working in them. Some tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold has been sold to pay for armed conflicts. These are sometimes called conflict minerals. Many companies now try to trace their supply chain to avoid them.

Local perspective (Ontario):

Ontario mines produce metals used in technology, like nickel and copper (Sudbury) and gold (several places in northern Ontario). Mining brings jobs and income, and it also creates environmental costs that must be managed.
The Ring of Fire is a large area of mineral deposits in the far north of Ontario, on the traditional territories of First Nations. Some First Nations support development with conditions, such as roads, jobs and environmental protections; others oppose it or want more say in decisions. Governments have a duty to consult Indigenous peoples about projects that may affect their rights.

Impacts of disposal: e-waste

E-waste contains valuable substances (gold, copper, silver) and harmful ones, such as lead (in some older solder), mercury (in some older screens and lamps) and cadmium (in some older batteries).
In a landfill, toxic substances can slowly leak into soil and water.
Some e-waste is shipped to other countries, where workers, sometimes children, burn wires or use acids to get metals out, which harms their health and pollutes the air and water.
Lithium-ion batteries can start fires if they are crushed in garbage trucks or recycling machines. They should go to a battery drop-off, not the garbage or blue bin.
Recycling e-waste properly recovers valuable metals so less needs to be mined. In Ontario, producers of electronics and batteries are responsible for collecting and recycling them (extended producer responsibility), and many stores and depots accept them for free. Check your town's rules.

A device's materials can go around a loop. Proper recycling sends metals like copper, gold and cobalt back to be used again; the landfill path (dashed) wastes them and can pollute soil and water.

Worked example

Let's analyse one substance

Analyse the social and environmental impacts of cobalt in phone batteries, from a local and a global perspective.

Use: cobalt helps rechargeable lithium-ion batteries store energy safely. Phones, laptops and electric cars use these batteries.
Global – social: much of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mining brings income, but small hand-dug mines can be unsafe, and child labour has been reported.
Global – environmental: mining and refining cobalt use energy and water and can pollute nearby land and rivers.
Local: cobalt is also mined as a by-product of nickel mining in places like Sudbury, under Canadian safety and environmental rules. Ontario also has a town called Cobalt, named after the mineral found there in a silver rush over 100 years ago.
Disposal: old batteries should be recycled at a battery drop-off. Recycling recovers cobalt and other metals and prevents fires and pollution.
Actions: keep devices longer, repair them, choose companies that report where their minerals come from, and recycle properly.

Cobalt makes our batteries work, but getting it can harm workers and the environment, especially in places with weak protections. Keeping devices longer and recycling batteries reduces the demand for new cobalt.

Hands-on activity

Device detective

Use a scientific research process.

Inventory: with a grown-up, list every electronic device in your home that's in use, plus any old ones in drawers. Count them.
Choose one element from the table (or another, like silver, indium or tantalum).
Research question: Where does this element come from, how is it used in devices, and what are the impacts of mining and disposing of it?
Find at least two reliable sources (government, university, museum or a library book). Note who wrote each source and when. Is it trying to sell something?
Organize your notes: Uses | Local impacts (Ontario/Canada) | Global impacts | Disposal | What I can do.
Share it: make an infographic or a short slideshow for your family, ending with three actions your household can take.
Act: with a grown-up, find your nearest e-waste and battery drop-off and plan to take any old devices or batteries there.

What to look for: facts with sources, at least one local and one global perspective, both benefits and costs, and practical actions (keep devices longer, repair, donate working ones, recycle at proper depots).

Safety: never open, crush or puncture a battery. Don't take apart devices. Put tape over the ends of loose batteries before taking them to a drop-off. If a battery is swollen, hot or leaking, tell a grown-up right away.

Your turn

Name two elements in a smartphone and what each one does.

What is e-waste?

Why shouldn't lithium-ion batteries go in the garbage or blue bin?

Give one social impact of cobalt mining in some parts of the world.

Give one environmental impact of e-waste in landfills.

What is the Ring of Fire?

Give two things your family can do to reduce the impacts of devices.

More practice: warm-up

What is the symbol for copper?

Which element is used in computer chips?

Is gold in a phone a pure substance?

What do we call all the steps from mine to store?

Where in Ontario are nickel and copper mined?

More practice: on your own

Why is gold used for connectors even though it is expensive?

Explain the difference between a local and a global perspective on phone minerals.

Why might recycling metals from e-waste be better for the environment than mining new metal?

Why do some First Nations want more say in Ring of Fire decisions?

You find a website about cobalt run by a battery company. Why should you check it against another source?

Challenge

A family has 4 old phones in a drawer. Each phone contains about 0.03 g of gold. How much gold is in all 4? Why is recycling them still worthwhile even though the amount is small?

Write a short argument (3 to 4 sentences) for or against this idea: "Companies should be required to make phones easy to repair." Use at least one impact from this lesson.

Compare the impacts of mining nickel in Sudbury with mining cobalt in small hand-dug mines. Give one similarity and one difference.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which element is used in phone batteries?

Why is copper used for wires?

Where should an old lithium-ion battery go?

A global perspective on phone minerals would include...

Which is a harmful substance that can be found in some older electronics?

The Ring of Fire is...

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Ontario expectation C1.1 asks students to analyse the social and environmental impacts of the use and disposal of pure substances found in technological devices, considering local and global perspectives. It connects to elements (C2.8) and uses the research process (A1.1) and communication (A1.5).

How to help: Do the device inventory together, and find your local e-waste and battery drop-off. Talk about how long you keep devices and whether they can be repaired.

Sensitive topics: child labour and conflict minerals are serious issues. Keep the discussion factual and focus on actions families can take. When discussing the Ring of Fire, emphasize that First Nations hold a range of views and have rights to be consulted; avoid presenting any single view as "the" Indigenous view.

Common difficulties:

One-sided answers ("mining is bad"). Ask for benefits and costs.
Mixing up local and global.
Thinking recycling solves everything. Keeping and repairing devices reduces impacts even more.

Safety: never let children open devices or batteries. Tape the ends of loose batteries before drop-off. Swollen or hot batteries need an adult right away.