

So, if a copper is added to a solution of magnesium chloride no reaction occurs. So if we were to categorise metals by their reactivity, the most reactive metal would naturally be at the top. So, do different compounds react in different ways when we're trying to extract the metal from them? It means that a substance doesn't break easily and that's a totally different concept.Ĭel: Ah, OK. It was known before the experiment that the metals used in the experiment are placed in the activity series from most active to least active as follows: magnesium, aluminum, zinc, and copper. Strong means something else in chemistry. The purpose of the lab was to find which metal is the most reactive and which metal is the least reactive. Mrs Roberts: Well, the scientific term is more reactive. Why is that? And how should we describe it then? But you should never use the word stronger.Ĭel: Oh. 'c,rafion the to titmove an electron from 2. additiort, relative metals have ionization atid affinities. It's OK to think of it as two metals fighting over a non-metal and winning if that helps you to remember. high and conductivities, luster, malleability, xnd have low lew luster, malleability, and ttw. Mrs Roberts: Yeah, well a lot of the time students like to think the more reactive element as being stronger and win in a fight with a less reactive element. Relevant oxidation, reduction, and balanced redox reactions (see Reaction 4. Your lab report should have your name, data arranged in graphs or tables where applicable, conclusive data such as an activity series.

Create an informal lab document to turn in at the beginning of the next lab. In a displacement reaction a more reactive metal will displace, which means pushes out, a less reactive metal from its compound.Ĭel: So, essentially, sometimes a bigger, stronger metal comes along and pushes the other one out? Use a lab notebook to take notes and make observations. So, a displacement reaction involves a metal and a compound of a different metal. As scrap iron is much less valuable than copper, which we need for many electronic devices such as computers and phones.Ĭel: Mrs Roberts, please could you talk us through exactly what we mean by displacement? Downloadables Public Assistance Information and Receiving Integrated Application Forms and Process In pursuant to FDA Circular No. The reactions of the alkali metals in water, exothermic reactions of metals in acid and metal displacement reactions are featured. In industry, we use iron to displace copper from solutions of waste copper compounds, which is really useful. After a displacement reaction, the less reactive element is now pure and left uncombined. A displacement reaction occurs when a more reactive element displaces, or pushes out, a less reactive element from a compound that contains the less reactive element. Elements can be placed into a reactivity series with the most reactive element at the top of the list and the least reactive at the bottom.
