Chem Lab

Introduction:
The purpose of this experiment is to study a set of metals and their reactions reactions using different metals in an ordered activity series, the goal is to find the relative reactivity of them.Discovering why metals react with certain cations and solutions is the main point of this lab. This has many real life applications. When creating buildings, or bridges it is important to understand and counter-act the rusting of iron. You can do that by using the activity series. For any industry using metals, this is important. Manufacturing cars, or producing construction supplies all ties in with the activity series. Without it, cars or buildings could very well be rusting and dissolving around us. Metal/ Cation or Solution HCl H2O CuSO4 ZnSO4 MgSO4 SnCl2 Fe(NO3)3
Cu NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
Mg R NR R R NR R R
Sn R NR R NR NR NR NR
Zn R NR R NR NR R R
Fe R NR R NR NR R NR
Steel (FeAl) R NR R NR NR R NR
Table 1 : Predictions Metal/Cation
Or Solution HCL Mg2+ H2O Cu2+ Zn2+ Fe2+ Sn2+
Cu Rusted,
Less shiny No reaction No reaction bubbles bubbles tarnished No reaction
Mg Bubbles,
Hydrogen gas No reaction No reaction Tarnishing,
Edges black bubbling rusting Liquefied dissolving Sn No reaction No reaction No reaction No reaction No reaction No reaction No reaction
Zn No reaction No reaction No reaction rusting No reaction rusting dissolving
Fe No reaction No reaction rusting rusting No reaction No reaction rusting
Steel bubbles No reaction No reaction rusting No reaction rusting No reaction
Table 2: Observations

Results: HCl(Solution used) Metal Word Equation Balanced Equation
Cu NR NR
Mg Magnesium + Hydrochloric Acid ---> Hydrogen + Magnesium Chloride Mg(s) + 2HCl(aq) ---> H2(g) + MgCl2(s)
Sn NR NR
Zn NR NR
Fe NR NR
Steel (FeAl) Iron (III) + Hydrochloric Acid ---> Hydrogen + Iron (III) Chloride 2Fe(s) + 6HCl(aq) ---> 3H2(g) + 2FeCl3(s)