The Activity Series

• The ability of an element to react is referred to as the element’s activity.– For metal, greater activity means greater ease of loss of electrons, to form cations.

– For nonmetals, greater activity means greater ease of gain of electrons, to form anions.

• The most-active element is placed at the top in the series and can replace any element below it.

• Activity series are used to help predict whether certain chemical reactions will occur.

• Activity series are based on experimentation.

Activity Series Information

Experiments reveal trends. The activity series ranks the relative reactivity of metals.It allows us to predict if certain chemicals will undergo single displacement reactions when mixed: metals near the top are most reactive and will displace metals near the bottom.Q: Which of these will react?

Fe + CuSO4 Ni + NaCl Li + ZnCO3 Al + CuCl2

Cu + Fe2(SO4)3

Yes, Fe is above Cu

NR (no reaction)

No, Ni is below Na

Zn + Li2CO3Cu + AlCl3

Yes, Al is above Cu

KNaLiCaMgAlZnFeNiSnPbHCuHgAgAu

Yes, Li is above Zn

H is the only nonmetal listed. H2 may be displaced from acids or can be given off when a metal reacts with H2O (producing H2 + metal hydroxide). The reaction with H2O depends on metal reactivity & water temp. Q: will Mg react with H2O?

KNaLiCaMgAlZnFeNiSnPbHCuHgAgAu

cold H2O

hot H2O

steam

acid

NR

A: No for cold, yes if it is hot/steamMg + H2O

H2 + ZnCl2Complete these reactions:Al + H2O(steam) Cu + H2O Ca + H2SO4 Na + H2O

H2 + Mg(OH)2

H2 + Al(OH)3

H2 + CaSO4

H2 + NaOH

Q: Zn + HCl

Mg Cu Zn

Mg + AgNO3

Ag+ Mg(NO3)2

NR

NR

NR

Cu + AgNO3

Ag+ Cu(NO3)2

Zn + AgNO3

Ag+ Zn(NO3)2

AgN

O3

H2 S

O4

Fe(N

O3 )

3C

uCl2

Mg + H2SO4

H2 + MgSO4

Zn + H2SO4

H2 + ZnSO4

Mg+ Fe(NO3)3

Fe+ Mg(NO3)2

Zn+ Fe(NO3)3

Fe+ Zn(NO3)2

Mg + CuCl2

Cu + MgCl2

Zn + CuCl2

Cu + ZnCl2

Oxides form via the addition of oxygen:

K + O2 K2O

KNaLiCaMgAlZnFeNiSnPbHCuHgAgAu

Oxides

Oxides plus H2 (with heat) will change to

metal and H2O:

NiO + H2 Ni + H2O

Oxides decompose with heat:

HgO Hg + O2

The formation and behavior of oxides can also be predicted via the activity series.Complete these reactions: Ca + O2

Au + O2

Fe2O3+ H2

heat

heatheat

CaO

Fe + H2O

NR