Activity Series Lab

Making an Activity Series of Metals using different Solutions
Purpose/ Hypothesis:
The purpose of this lab was to clearly identify the reactivity of magnesium, zinc and copper. The metals reactivity will be exemplified as it will be tested with different solutions such as zinc sulfate (ZnSO4), copper sulfate (CuSO4), hydrochloric acid (HCL), magnesium sulfate (Mg2SO4), iron (II) sulfate (FeSO4) and tin (II) chloride (SnCl2). This will allow us in creating an activity series to visually see the reactivity when given single displacement reactions. An activity series is used to determine if a metal will displace a compound (swap places) as it will create a single displacement reaction (www. Cod.edu), this can only occur if a single metal is highly
reactive than the metal that is in the compound. This will result in the metal to be higher in the activity series (Clancy et al, 2011). The elements in the single displacement reactions would follow an important trend as it states that elements which will form cations can only displace cations, the elements which form anions can only displace anions (amrita.olabs.in). The hypothesis would be that the metals that are tested with the solutions, the metal that will have the greatest reactivity would be magnesium. This is the case as magnesium has the ability to react with many of the solutions as its reactivity is higher when compared to zinc and copper.
Mg2 ZnSO4 CuSO4 HCL MgSO4 FeSO4 SnCl2
Zn2 ZnSO4 CuSO4 HCL MgSO4 FeSO4 SnCl2
Cu2 ZnSO4 CuSO4 HCL MgSO4 FeSO4 SnCl2 Materials and Methods:
1. The work station was cleared
2. Safety equipment was worn
3. Two spot plates were gathered and labeled with metals and solutions
4. The metals were placed in a spot plate using a scoopula
5. 5 drops of each solution was placed in the labelled spot plate
6. Each metal was tested with each of the solutions
7. The reactivity was recorded for each test done
8. A chart was set up with the reactant on one side and the other side included the state of reaction
9.
Low reactivity, High reactivity and NR was used ( minor bubbles- LR, Large bubbles / colour change – HR and no change NR)
10. The results were clarified using an activity series and the observations made
11. The work station was cleared and wiped with a paper towel
12. The reacted substances were disposed in a proper chemical waste bin
13. The data collected was used to form chemical equations which were balanced
14. The experiment had been completed

Results:
Table 1: Qualitative and Quantitative Observations
For the reactivity of copper, magnesium, and zinc.
Mg Zn Cu
Mg 2 + ZnSO4  Low reactivity
- Minor bubbles were forming Zn2 + ZnSO4  No reactivity Cu2+ ZnSO4  No reactivity
Mg 2 +CuSO4  Low reactivity Zn2+ CuSO4  low reactivity Cu2+Cuso4  No reactivity
Mg 2 + HCL High reactivity
- Crackling sound
- Very large bubbles
- Precipitate was formed Zn2+ HCL  High reactivity
- Bubbles and a slight colour change Cu2+ HCL Low reactivity

Mg 2 + MgSO4 No reactivity Zn2+ MgSO4  No reactivity Cu2+ MgSO4 No reactivity
Mg 2 + FeSO4  High reactivity
- Many bubbles formed
- Solution changed colour from yellow to clear Zn2+ FeSO4 High reactivity
- Yellow to slight orange in colour Cu + FeSO4  No reactivity

-It gets really dull in
colour

Activity Series : Should not have reacted as copper cannot displace Iron
Mg 2 + SnCl2 Low reactivity
- Bubbles
- Magnesium strip was getting corrosive
- Magnesium strip started to turn black

Zn2+ SnCl2  High reactivity
- Bubbles were formed
- Zinc turned slightly dark Cu2+ SnCl2  No reactivity
- The coil gets brighter
Colour starts having a shade of bronze ( Physical change )

Activity Series : Should not have reacted as copper cannot displace tin

Discussion:
The purpose of this lab was to clearly identify the reactivity of magnesium, zinc and copper. The metals reactivity was exemplified through the tests conducted with different solutions. The metals that would have reacted with the most amounts of solutions would have been the most reactive, and the metal that did not react with most of the solution than they would have been non- reactive. The data that was presented in table one clearly had shown that the most reactive metal would be magnesium (Clancy et al, 2011). This would have been the case as it had reacted with all the solutions present with the exception of magnesium sulfate, as it was not able to displace itself. The second most reactive metal would have been zinc as it reacted with half of the solutions. The solution that zinc did not react with was zinc sulfate and magnesium sulfate. The least reactive metal would have been copper as it did not react with any solution with the exception of HCl. Therefore the results that were present portray that the ranking of the most to least reactive metals would be; magnesium, zinc and copper. The results that were presented were not as precise as they should have been. This was resulted due to minor errors such as instrumental errors, quantity errors and the timing for each solution. The instrumental error that was present during the experiment would be that the two spot plates used were not clean. This fact did not change even after washing it with detergent; this impacted the results as there was residue left from the chemicals that were used prior to the lab. This error would have been corrected by perhaps having it clean with stronger liquids as this would have given precise results. The second error that was present would be the quantities of each solution. This was the case as some metals were very large in terms of their size. The larger the metal the more solution is needed to have it fully coated so the reaction could occur. This allowed some metals to not have precise amounts of solutions as the reaction that was to occur did not take place. This error could have been solved by having the metals in identical sizes and the amount of solutions could have a fixed dropping. This would allow the reactions to have an equal potential to react. The last experimental error was the timing as there was not really a set time that would have caused all the reactions to take place. The reason for this error is that some solutions had more time to react where as others did not have enough time so the reaction had not occurred. For example, when hydrochloric acid was added into the magnesium strip, it did not react rapidly. However, after 5-10 minutes later, the reaction of magnesium and hydrochloric acid had occurred. In this case, some of the metals did not react with the substances but when checked through the activity series the reaction should have occurred. This had shown that the reactions that were supposed to take place did not have enough time. This error could have been corrected by looking at the maximum timing requirements for each reaction and then setting time that would have allowed the performance of the experiment to run with ease.

Analysis:
1.
For each single displacement reaction that occurred, write the corresponding balanced chemical equation. Keep in mind that hydrogen is a diatomic element.

• Mg 2( s) + 2 ZnSO4 (aq) 2 MgSO4(aq) + Zn2 ( s)
• Mg 2 ( s) + 2 CuSO4(aq)  2MgSO4 (aq)+ Cu2 ( s)
• Mg 2( s) +2 HCL(aq)  MgCl2(aq) +
H2(g)
• Zn2( s) +2 CuSO4 (aq)2 ZnSO4(aq) + Cu2 ( s)
• Zn2( s) +4 HCL(aq) 2 ZnCl2 (aq) +2H2(g)
• Cu2( s) + 4HCL(aq)  2 CuCl2 + 2H2(g)
• Mg2( s) +2 FeSO4 (aq)2 MgSO4(aq) + Fe2 ( s)
• Mg 2( s) + 2SnCl2(aq)  2MgCl2(aq) + Sn2 ( s)

2. Lithium metal reacts with water. Is lithium more or less reactive than magnesium? Write a balanced chemical equation to represent the reaction of lithium with water.
As per the activity series lithium is the first element. Meaning it is the most reactive (Clancy et al, 2011). Lithium is more reactive than magnesium because it’s above magnesium which proves that it is able to displace it.
Balanced Equation:
2 Li(s) +2 H2O (l) 2 LiOH (aq) +H2 (g)
3. Rank the metals you tested in order of reactivity, beginning with the most reactive metal. Include lithium in your ranking. (You have just created an activity series of metals.)
1 is most reactive and 4 is the least reactive:
This is the case as the most reactive metals allowed a reaction to occur, and the least reactive metal was really limited in terms of the reaction.
1 2 3 4
Lithium Magnesium Zinc Copper

4. Explain how an activity series of metals can be used to predict single displacement reactions.
An activity series of metals can be used to predict single displacement reactions as an activity series is listed from the most reactive metal to the least reactive. This can be really useful in predicting the products in single displacement reaction. This can be done by just looking at the activity series, as the element in the reactant that is by itself also known as single and it reactivity is more than the metal that is in the compound than it will surely displace the metal in the compound . This will cause the metal in the compound to be single.
Example:
Mg 2(s) + 2 ZnSO4 (aq) 2 MgSO4 (aq) + Zn2 (s)

Conclusion:
The hypothesis that was predicted included that the metals that are tested with the solutions, the metal that will have the greatest reactivity would be magnesium. This is the case as magnesium has the ability to react with many of the solutions as its reactivity is higher when compared to zinc and copper. The hypothesis predicted was correct as the results had clearly shown that magnesium was able to displace all the solutions but magnesium sulfate. This was the case as magnesium has the most reactivity when compared through the other metals present in the reactants. Therefore it had higher chances to displace and react with many of the solutions. The purpose of this lab was to find the reactivity for each metal and this was done through the experiment by mixing all the metals with the solutions. Overall the basic concept and knowledge that was gained through this lab was that an activity series plays an important role when predicting products in single displacement reactions. This is the case as you cannot conduct an experiment for every single displacement reaction as that is time consuming and is a hassle.