Reactivity of metals

Denise 8a

Does a connection or relationship exist between the reactivity of a metal and the time it was discovered?

Our Question:

Background informationI know that metals with a greater atomic radius

are more reactive, as they release their electrons more easily. This is because the electrons are farther away from the nucleus, and therefore the nucleus has a weaker hold on them. It also has to do with atomic shielding, which is

My hypothesisI think that it the time it was discovered will

have a link with the reactivity, because more reactive metals (not surprisingly) will react with the air around them, and make themselves harder to find. The non reactive metals can be found lying around, so naturally they were found first, but as our technology improves we will find the hidden reactive metals.

There are currently around 117 metals, but for the sake of time and space, I will only list 10 of them ( in order of reactivity):

Metal When it was discovered

Reactivity

Cs – Caesium 1860 Extremely reactiveK – Potassium 1807 Extremely reactiveLi – Lithium 1817 Very reactiveMg – Magnesium 1808 Very reactiveZn – Zinc 1746 Fairly reactiveCo - Cobalt 1735 Fairly reactiveFe - Iron 2500 BC Not very reactiveSn – Tin 2000 BC Not very reactiveCu - Copper 5000 BC Not very reactiveHg – Mercury 1500 BC Not very reactive

ConclusionI think that there’s a slight pattern; all of the

more reactive metals (Caesium , Potassium, Lithium and Magnesium) were found in the 1800s, while the metals categorized as fairly reactive were found in the 1700s and metals classified as not very reactive in B.C.

This agrees with my hypothesis.

ReflectionI think that I could have done better by using

more metals, to make a more accurate result. I also could have fixed my backround information – certain parts I didn’t understand I could have found out, but didn’t have the time to.

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