SHAIRA JHANN L.

ROSALES
BS CHEM2H1 Group No. 2
JULY 26, 2014

Experiment No. 2
DISPLACEMENT REACTION

I. Introduction
A single-displacement reaction, also named substitution reaction, is a common
and important type of oxidation-reduction chemical reaction where an element or ion moves
out of one compound into another - that is, one element is replaced by another in a
compound, represented by the general reaction scheme:
A + BC AC + B, wherein A and B are different metals and C as an anion, or A and
B are halogens and C as a cation; with A more reactive than B (shown in the reactivity
series) and C as a spectator ion. The reactivity series is a ranking of metals according to
their reactivity, which are generally arranged in order of decreasing ability to lose electrons
to nonmetals to form cations and a product which is an ionic compound: Li, K, Ba, Ca, Na,
Mg, Al, Mn, Zn, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Sn, Pb, H, Cu, Ag, Hg, Pt, and Au.
In this experiment, iron fillings, Fe, are reacted with copper (II) sulfate, CuSO
4
to
identify and justify which iron is produced, and categorized what is oxidized and reduced in
the reaction.

II. Methodology
i. Materials
0.25 g iron fillings
125-mL Erlenmeyer flask
250-mL beaker
50-mL of 1M copper (II)
sulfate
Analytical balance
Filter paper
Funnel
Funnel stand
Petri dish
Stirring rod

ii. Procedure


III. Data and Calculation
i. Chemical Reactions
Fe Fe
2+
: CuSO
4 (aq)
+ Fe
(s)
FeSO
4 (aq)
+ Cu
(s)
Fe Fe
3+
: 3 CuSO
4 (aq)
+ 2 Fe
(s)
Fe
2
(SO
4
)
3 (aq)
+ 3 Cu
(s)
ii. Data
Weight of filter paper: 1.64 g
Weight of iron fillings: 0.25 g
Volume of 1M CuSO
4
: 50-mL
Weight of copper: 1.24 g
iii. Computation
Fe
2+
= 1.24 g Cu (1 mol Cu / 63.5 g Cu) (1 mol Fe / 1 mol Cu) (55.8 g Fe / 1 mol Fe)
= 1.09 g Fe
2+
/ 0.25 g Fe x 100 = 436%
Fe
3+
= 1.24 g Cu (1 mol Cu / 63.5 g Cu) (2 mol Fe / 3 mol Cu) (55.8 g Fe / 1 mol Fe)
= 0.726 g Fe
3+
/ 0.25 g Fe x 100 = 291%

IV. Discussion of Results
Copper (II) sulfate is blue, while iron sulfate is colorless. During the reaction, the
copper (II) sulfate solution loses its color and iron metal is seen to turn pink-brown as the
displaced copper becomes deposited on it. From the experiment, the solution is not
observed to lose its color because it takes more than several hours for the complete
displacement of iron in copper (II) sulfate.
The type of iron used in the experiment is Fe
2+
which has a higher percent yield
of 436% rather than Fe
3+
with only 291%. These unanticipated results may be accounted
to the incomplete displacement of iron and copper and the ratio of iron and copper (II)
sulfate in the experiment.
Iron is also oxidized because it loses two of its electrons, in which becomes a
cation. While copper, on the other hand, is reduced because it gains two electrons, thus
becomes neutral.
V. Conclusion
Based on the results, the iron used in the experiment is Fe
2+
and is the reducing
agent. Thus, has a higher reactivity and displaces copper from the copper (II) sulfate
solution into iron sulfate.

VI. References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_displacement_reaction
http://swc2.hccs.edu/pahlavan/intro_labs/Exp_8_Activity_Series_Single_Replace
ment_Reactions.pdf
http://www.gcsescience.com/r5-metal-displacement-reactions.html