From John Bibby
Feedback pours scorn on the exam question concerning powdered iron in breakfast cereal
(3 June).
May I refer you to the excellent publication Classic Chemistry Demonstrations
published by the Education Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry, demonstration number 3,
“Extracting iron from breakfast cereal”.
Also, why is it difficult to believe that ingesting metallic iron may counter
anaemia? If you were to complete the word equation in part (c) of the exam
question you quote, you would realise that iron reacts with hydrochloric acid to
produce a soluble iron chloride salt which, presumably, could be absorbed into
the bloodstream and utilised in the production of haemoglobin.
Rochdale
