Experiment 11: Arranging Metals by Reactivity (PDF)

## Experiment 11: Arranging the metals according to the decreasing order of their reactivity **Aim:** To study the reactions of the metals Al, Zn, Fe and Cu with the solutions of salts Al₂(SO₄)₃, ZnSO₄, FeSO₄, CuSO₄, and to arrange these metals in decreasing order of their reactivity. **Requiremen...

## Experiment 11: Arranging the metals according to the decreasing order of their reactivity **Aim:** To study the reactions of the metals Al, Zn, Fe and Cu with the solutions of salts Al₂(SO₄)₃, ZnSO₄, FeSO₄, CuSO₄, and to arrange these metals in decreasing order of their reactivity. **Requirements:** Test tubes, test tube stand, distilled water, sandpaper, forceps, the metals Aluminum, Zinc, Iron and Copper, solutions of the salts Al₂(SO₄)₃, ZnSO₄, FeSO₄, CuSO₄. **Procedure:** 1. Take four 50 ml beakers and label them as Aluminum sulfate, Zinc sulfate, Ferrous sulfate and Copper sulfate. 2. Clean all metallic pieces using sandpaper and cut them into small pieces. 3. Add 10 ml of solution of Al₂(SO₄)₃, ZnSO₄, FeSO₄ and CuSO₄ in the labelled beakers respectively. 4. Add two pieces of aluminum metal into beaker containing ZnSO₄, FeSO₄, and CuSO₄ solutions. 5. Keep the beakers undisturbed for about 20 minutes. 6. After about 20 minutes, note the change in color of solutions or any other change. 7. Repeat the similar procedure by adding - Zinc pieces to Al₂(SO₄)₃, FeSO₄, and CuSO₄ solutions, Iron pieces to Al₂(SO₄)₃, ZnSO₄, and CuSO₄ solutions, Copper pieces to Al₂(SO₄)₃, ZnSO₄, and FeSO₄ solutions. 8. Record your observations. **Diagram:** Draw and label the diagrams of metals with the solutions of salts: | Metal | Solution | Observations | |---|---|---| | Aluminum metal strip | Aluminum sulfate solution | | | Aluminum metal strip | Zinc sulfate solution | | | Aluminum metal strip | Ferrous sulfate solution | | | Aluminum metal strip | Copper sulfate solution | | | Zinc metal strip | Aluminum sulfate solution | | | Zinc metal strip | Zinc sulfate solution | | | Zinc metal strip | Ferrous sulfate solution | | | Zinc metal strip | Copper sulfate solution | | | Iron metal strip | Aluminum sulfate solution | | | Iron metal strip | Zinc sulfate solution | | | Iron metal strip | Ferrous sulfate solution | | | Iron metal strip | Copper sulfate solution | | | Copper metal strip | Aluminum sulfate solution | | | Copper metal strip | Zinc sulfate solution | | | Copper metal strip | Ferrous sulfate solution | | | Copper metal strip | Copper sulfate solution | | **Inferences:** 1. Aluminum displaces Zinc, Iron, and Copper from their salt solutions. 2. Zinc displaces Iron and Copper from their salt solutions. 3. Fe displaces Copper from its salt solution. 4. Cu cannot displace Al, Zn, or Fe from their salt solutions. 5. Thus, Aluminum is more reactive metal. **The decreasing order of reactivity of metal is:** Al → Zn → Fe → Cu **Precautions:** 1. Do not touch any chemical. 2. Label the beakers properly and put them in sequences. It is better to label the beakers both with the chemical names and also by chemical symbols. 3. It is very important that the apparatus you use must be very clean and dry. 4. Always clean the metallic strips before use with a sandpaper. Use the strips of metals of the same size, weight and number. **Multiple Choice Questions:** 1. To show that zinc is more reactive than copper, the correct procedure is to: (A) prepare copper sulfate solution and dip zinc strip in it (B) prepare zinc sulfate solution and dip copper strip in it (C) heat together zinc and copper strips. (D) add dil. nitric acid to both the strips. **Answer:** (A) 2. A solution of Al(SO)₃ in water is not clear. It is due to: (A) impurities present in water (B) hydrolysis of Al₂(SO₄)₃ in water. (C) impurities present in Al₂(SO₄)₃. (D) none of these. **Answer:** (B) 3. Iron is: (A) more reactive than zinc. (B) more reactive than aluminum. (C) less reactive than cooper. (D) less reactive than aluminum. **Answer:** (D) **Note:** The observations in the table above were not provided in the image. For complete results, the experiment should be performed and the observations recorded. **Remember:** If a metal A displaces another metal B from the solution of its salt, then it means the metal A is more reactive than the metal B.