Sure, let's break this down step-by-step to identify the metal.
We know the following about the metal:
1. It's one of the best conductors listed.
2. It doesn't melt when heated to [tex]\( 1000^{\circ} C \)[/tex].
We'll start by looking at the electrical conductivity rankings since this tells us about the conductivity of the metals.
Here are the rankings from the table:
- aluminum: 3
- copper: 2
- zinc: 4
- silver: 1
- nickel: 5
Since the chemist finds that the metal is one of the best conductors, it should have a low electrical conductivity ranking number. Specifically, out of these options, the best conductors would have rankings of 1, 2, or 3.
Now, let's look at the melting points and see which metals do not melt at [tex]\( 1000^{\circ} C \)[/tex].
Here are the melting points:
- aluminum: 660 [tex]\(^{\circ} C\)[/tex]
- copper: 1085 [tex]\(^{\circ} C\)[/tex]
- zinc: 420 [tex]\(^{\circ} C\)[/tex]
- silver: 962 [tex]\(^{\circ} C\)[/tex]
- nickel: 1455 [tex]\(^{\circ} C\)[/tex]
We need a melting point greater than [tex]\( 1000^{\circ} C \)[/tex].
From this list, the metals that do not melt at [tex]\( 1000^{\circ} C \)[/tex] are:
- copper (1085 [tex]\(^{\circ} C\)[/tex])
- nickel (1455 [tex]\(^{\circ} C\)[/tex])
Given that we need a good conductor:
- copper is ranked 2 in conductivity
- nickel is ranked 5 in conductivity
Since we are looking for one of the best conductors, copper is the correct answer (as it has the second-best conductivity ranking).
So, the chemist has:
B. copper
