4.

4 Oxidation-Reduction Reactions 141

Li n Li1 1 e2
K n K1 1 e2 React with cold
Ba n Ba21 1 2e2 water to produce H2
Ca n Ca21 1 2e2
Na n Na1 1 e2
Mg n Mg21 1 2e2
Reducing strength increases Al n Al 31 1 3e2
Zn n Zn 21 1 2e2 React with steam
Cr n Cr31 1 3e2 to produce H2
Fe n Fe21 1 2e2
Cd n Cd21 1 2e2
Co n Co21 1 2e2
Ni n Ni 21 1 2e2 React with acids
Sn n Sn21 1 2e2 to produce H2
Pb n Pb21 1 2e2
H2 n 2H1 1 2e2
Cu n Cu21 1 2e2
Ag n Ag1 1 e2
Hg n Hg21 1 2e2 Do not react with water
or acids to produce H2
Pt n Pt21 1 2e2
Au n Au31 1 3e2

Figure 4.16 The activity series for metals. The metals are arranged according to their ability to
displace hydrogen from an acid or water. Li (lithium) is the most reactive metal, and Au (gold) is the
least reactive.

Metal displacement reactions find many applications in metallurgical processes,

the goal of which is to separate pure metals from their ores. For example, vanadium
is obtained by treating vanadium(V) oxide with metallic calcium:

V2O5 (s) 1 5Ca(l) ¡ 2V(l) 1 5CaO(s)

Similarly, titanium is obtained from titanium(IV) chloride according to the reaction

TiCl4 (g) 1 2Mg(l) ¡ Ti(s) 1 2MgCl2 (l)

In each case, the metal that acts as the reducing agent lies above the metal that is
reduced (that is, Ca is above V and Mg is above Ti) in the activity series. We will
see more examples of this type of reaction in Chapter 18.
3. Halogen Displacement. Another activity series summarizes the halogens’ behavior 1A 8A
2A 3A 4A 5A 6A 7A
in halogen displacement reactions: F
Cl
Br

F2 . Cl2 . Br2 . I2 I

The power of these elements as oxidizing agents decreases as we move down Group The halogens.
7A from fluorine to iodine, so molecular fluorine can replace chloride, bromide, and
iodide ions in solution. In fact, molecular fluorine is so reactive that it also attacks
water; thus these reactions cannot be carried out in aqueous solutions. On the other
hand, molecular chlorine can displace bromide and iodide ions in aqueous solution.
The displacement equations are

0 21 21 0
Cl2(g) 1 2KBr(aq) 88n 2KCl(aq) 1 Br2(l)
0 21 21 0
Cl2(g) 1 2NaI(aq) 88n 2NaCl(aq) 1 I2(s)