Pre-Lab:

1. What happens when a metal is reduced? Give an example of a metal being reduced.

When a metal is reduced, it receives electrons from the metal that was oxidized,
therefore “reducing” the oxidation state. An example of this is O-2 + Fe+2 = FeO, in which Fe is
being reduced.

2. What happens when an atom is oxidized? Give an example of a metal being oxidized.

When an atom is oxidized, it loses electrons to the atom that was reduced. For
example, in NaCl, sodium loses an electron to form the compound, therefore being oxidized.

3. If metal ions in a solution were reduced, what would you expect to see?

I would expect the ions to become solid.

Refer to the activity series table to answer the rest of the questions.

4. Which metals will be able to reduce copper ions in solution?

Fe, Ni, Zn, Al, Mg, Ca, Na, etc.

5. Will copper or iron be able to replace zinc ions in solution? Why?

Neither will be able to replace zinc ions in a solution. This is because both are

below zinc on the activity series.

6. Which metal will not be able to be oxidized by any of the other metals listed?

Gold will not able to be oxidized because it has the highest reduction potential,
meaning nothing else on the list can oxidize it.

7. If you had a house with both copper and zinc-galvanized iron water pipes, which metal

would be oxidized first? Why would this be desirable?

 Zinc would oxidize first. This would be desirable because if the iron oxidized, then
there would be high risk of a leak.

8. Trace amounts of copper are required for good health. But high concentrations of copper

can be toxic. Under what conditions might too much copper go into solution?

This could occur if copper reacts with another substance with a higher reduction
potential. The copper would be oxidized, which in turn would mean copper ions being released
into the solution.

9. What periodic trends of reactivity occur with the alkali metals?

Within the alkali metals family, if you go down the column, the distance from the nucleus
is increased and its reactivity increases due to the weaker pull on its electrons.
 10. What periodic trends of reactivity occur with the halogens?

Similar to the alkali metals, if you go down the column, the distance from the
nucleus increases. Since halogens only need one electron to form a full outer shell, halogens
are more reactive. With the distance increasing, it becomes harder for the halogen to get this
electron.

5.4.3 Lab (Dry Lab)

Sidhant Mathur

Table 5.2
Metal Oxidized? Oxidizing Agent

Cu No N/A

Fe Yes Cu

Zn Yes Fe, Cu

1. Which metal is the most reactive? How do you know this?

Zn, or zinc, is the most reactive. This is because it is higher on the activity series.

2. Rank the metals in order of increasing reactivity.

Cu, Fe, Zn

3. Give the chemical equations for each single replacement reaction that took place.

Fe + Cu(NO3)2 → Cu + Fe(NO3)2
Zn + Cu(NO3)2 → Cu + Zn(NO3)2
Zn + Fe(NO3)2 → Fe + Zn(NO3)2

4. Was Fe3+ reduced? If so, what metal(s) acted as reducing agents?

Fe3+ was reduced by Zn.