Honors Chemistry

Name: Ian Ho Date: 20-11-2013

U n i t 3 : C h e m i c a l R e a c t i o n s

Single Replacement Reactions Lab

Purpose: The purpose of this activity is to determine which metals are most reactive and to create an order from most reactive to least reactive. Part I: Reactions with Aqueous Solutions Materials: Metals: Copper Lead Zinc Magnesium Silver Calcium

Solutions: Copper (II) sulfate Silver nitrate Lead (II) nitrate Zinc sulfate Magnesium nitrate

Procedures: 1. Using a well plate and the chemical given, determine which reactions will occur between the metals and the solutions. 2. Add to each of the wells a small piece of the appropriate metal which has first been cleaned with sand paper. Note: Your teacher will provide the calcium when you are ready for it. 3. Create a data table to record your observations of before and after reactions. 4. Observe and record any evidence of a replacement reaction (i.e. a thin coating appears on the surface of the metal) occurring each of the test tubes. If no change is visible within five minutes, record this as no reaction Picture: Data Table:

P=precipitate N=no reaction Discussion Questions 1. (a) four reactions Magnesium (b) three reactions Zinc (c) two reactions Lead Most reactive: 1. Magnesium 2. Zinc 3. Lead 4. Copper 5. Silver Least Reactive:

(d) one reactions Copper (e) no reaction Silver

2. From Part II: Describe the order of metals from those that bubble most to those that bubble least, or not at all. List the five metals in decreasing order of reactivity. Place hydrogen into the list. Most Least Calcium, Magnesium, hydrogen, lead, silver, copper, zinc

3. Compare the order of reactivity of metals from Part II with all of the metals in Part I and describe any relationships you can discover. Create a final list of reactivity in order of decreasing reactivity. After comparing the order of reactivity of metals from part two and part one, I discovered that some elements react more then others. The reactivity of an element, as seen through the experiments, are determined by how easily they give up their electrons. I found out that the elements that react more, are higher on the activity series, and vice versa. Furthermore, I found out that whether a compounds reacts or not, not only depends on the reactants, but also the "solution" it is reacting in. For example, if Calcium and Ag(NO3)2 react or not, not only depends on how reactive Calcium is, but also depends on whether Calcium is more reactive then silver. This relationship is seen through all the other experiments. Calcium-Reacted with everything Magnesium-Reacted with everything except :Mg(NO3)2 Zinc-Reacted with everything except : ZnSO4, Mg(NO3)2 Lead-Reacted only with: AgNO3, CuNO3 Hydrogen-Reacted with: AgNO3, CuNO3 Copper-Only reacted with: AgNO3 Silver: Reacted with nothing

4. Compare this order with that of the reactivity series from your notes. Outline similarities and differences. Suggest several reasons for what might explain any differences. Our list is exactly the same with the reactivity list. However, this is only due to prior adjustments we made to our data table. In our table, we found out that magnesium only reacts with three other compounds. But in actual, it reacts with four of the given compounds. However, in our experiment, we did see a slight cloudiness, but we were not sure, so we marked it as no reaction. After filling the data table again, and looking at the picture again, we decided to change it. Thus in actual, our activity list shouldn't have been the same as the actual one. I think that the reason for the magnesium not precipitating fully is because we didn't sand out the outer oxidation layer completely, thus it was unable to react with the solution completely. 5. Write net ionic equations for all the reactions that occurred (highlighting the ones that were supposed to occur that you may not have observed)

6. A metal was found in the lab that was missing its labeling tape. In order to determine the identity of the metal several reactions were performed. When the metal was placed in hydrochloric acid, it bubbled. No reaction was noticed when placed in a solution of calcium nitrate. A reaction was observed when placed in a solution of zinc chloride. What could the metal possibly be? What further test could you run to determine the identity of the metal? The metal could have been anything between calcium and zinc. Further test should be done with solutions that contain everything in between calcium and zinc. Conclusion: We discovered that the more easily an elements gives away its electrons, the more reactive it is. Furthermore, we realized the purpose of an activity series: an activity series can determine whether a single replacement reaction can produce a reaction or not.