ACTIVITY

IB CHEMISTRY
SERIES
 More reactive metals are stronger reducing agents

An activity series in given Section 25 of the data booklet. It lists the ease with which metals (and
hydroge) lose electrons to each other. The higher up the series, the more readily the metal loses
electrons and hence the better reducing agent it is. The lower down in the series the ions of metals
are the better they are at gaining electrons, so the better they are at acting as oxidising agents.
Metals higher in series can displace (reduce) the ions of metals lower in the series. E.g. iron can displace copper
(II) ions from solution but cannot displace zinc (II) ions from solution. Whereas zinc can displace both copper and
iron (II) ions from solution.

Only metals above hydrogen in the activity series ca displace hydrogen ions from an acid to produce hydrogen
gas:
More reactive non-metals are stronger oxidizing agents
In a similar way, the different strengths of non-metals as oxidizing agents can be compared. For example, the halogens
(Group 17 elements) react by gaining electrons and forming negative ions, and so act as oxidizing agents by removing
electrons from other substances. We learned in Chapter 3 that their tendency to do this decreases down the group, so we
would expect the following trend.
Again this can be veri ed by reacting one halogen with solutions containing the ions of another halogen (known as
halide ions). For example:

Cl2(aq) + 2KI(aq) → 2KCl(aq) + I2(aq)

Here the Na+ ions are spectator ions so we can write the ionic equation without showing them:

Cl2(aq) + 2I– (aq) → 2Cl– (aq) + I2(aq)

The reaction occurs because Cl is a stronger oxidizing agent than I and so is able to remove electrons from
it. In simple terms, you can think of it as a competition for electrons where the stronger oxidizing agent, in
this case chlorine, will always ‘win’.