Single Displacement Reactions

SCH 3U

Purpose: To develop the activity series of metals through reactions of metals with ionic
solutions.
Hypothesis:
***Active metals give up their electrons to ions of more stable (and less reactive) metals.***

Use the activity series, to predict the products of the following reactions. If no reaction is expected, enter NR.

Elemental Metal
(solid)
Mg

Metal ion
(solution)
Fe(NO3)3

Fe

CuCl2

Zn

MgCl2

Mg

AgNO3

Fe

ZnCl2

Zn

HCl

New elemental
metal or gas

New metal ion

Materials:
Spot plate
Metals
Mg(ribbon)
Fe (iron wool)

bottle of distilled water

Zn (strip)
Cu (wire)

Solutions
Fe(NO3)3 (aq)
CuCl2(aq)

MgCl2(aq)
ZnCl2(aq)

HCl(aq)
AgNO3 (aq)

Procedure:
Wear goggles at all times. Review precautions for handling acids. Since silver nitrate may stain skin
and clothing, avoid contact. Dispose of solutions in the beaker marked as waste disposal.
1. Obtain a spot plate. In each of six (6) wells put a small piece of magnesium ribbon. Add 5 mL of each
reagent according to the instructions below. Observe the metal in each of the reagents for a few minutes.
Record your observations. Wait approximately 10 minutes (during this time you can start working on the
questions) noting any changes during this period. Try to rank the reactions with respect to the rate at
which they occur. Be descriptive!

2. Discard the contents of the spot plate in the waste beaker, making sure to return any unreacted metal.
Well1: distilled water

Well 4: CuCl2(aq)

Well 2: Fe(NO3)3 (aq)

Well 5: MgCl2(aq),

Well 3: ZnCl2(aq)

Well 6: AgNO3 (aq)

Well 7: HCl(aq) ***use 5 drops instead of 5 mL***

3. Repeat steps one and two using each of the following metals: copper, iron, and zinc.

Observations:
Title: _________________________________________________________________________
Metal/
Solution

Magnesium
Mg2+

Copper
Cu2+

Iron
Fe3+

Zinc
Zn2+

Distilled water Fe3+ Fe(NO3)3)

H2O

Zn2+ (ZnCl2)

Cu2+ (CuCl2)

Mg 2+ (MgCl2)

Ag + AgNO3

H+ (HCl)

Analysis:
1. Which metal reacted with the most solutions?
2. Which metal reacted with the fewest solutions?
3. List the metals in order of their reactivity, starting with the most reactive metal.
(The most reactive metal is the one that reacted with the most solutions, while the least reactive metal is
the one that reacted with the fewest solutions). Such a ranking of elements is called an activity series.
4. Based on your activity series, explain why it was decided to make the Statue of Liberty with copper instead
of zinc.
5. Based on your activity series, which material might have been a better choice than copper for the Statue of
Liberty? Why do you think it wasnt chosen?
6. Given your knowledge of relative chemical activity among these metals,
a. Which metal is most likely to be found in an uncombined or free state in nature?
b. Which metal would be least likely to be found uncombined with other elements?
7. Devise an experiment to investigate if Au is more reactive than Cu. Be specific. Use formulas in your
answer.
8. Group 1A metals are more reactive than group 2A metals. Hence, you might suspect that elements become
less reactive as atomic number increases in a period on the periodic table. Do the transition metals you
studied in this experiment support this assumption? Be specific!
Conclusion:
Write a brief summary stating your results i.e. write word and balanced chemical equations for each of the
reactions, including the ones with NO REACTION. Be sure to include, states of matter, compare these
equations to your original predictions. Suggest two improvements to the lab equipment or procedural steps that
would improve the results.
Formal Lab write up is expected;
Title page, Purpose, Intro (just your predictions chemical equations), materials, procedure as per usual,
observations re-type or attach if neat, within the appendix, analysis (questions), and conclusion see above.

Applications
The situation is not entirely straight forward as explained at this level of your studies. The ions formed by
certain metals have electron configurations which allow greater stability (multi-valences) in the presence of
another metal. This is the basis for electrochemistry and the production of devices such as batteries (lead
storage battery (cars), zinc-cadmium, alkaline batteries and others). They are also called electron transfer
reactions or redox (reduction and oxidation ) reactions. It is relatively easy to see that the reaction takes
place between a metal and in ion by writing the net ionic equation.