Metal Reactivity Lab
Name ____________________
In this lab, you will be observing the reaction of 4 metals (Cu, Mg, Al, & Zn) with various solutions.
Based upon your observations, you will determine the relative reactiviness of the 4 metals.
Procedure:
1. Lay-out your spot plate to match the order & layout of the data table.
2. Place a clean piece of Cu in each of the 5 Cu wells across the spot plate. Fill each well with
enough of the proper solution to cover the Cu.
3. Repeat step #2 for the Mg, Fe, & Zn using clean samples of each metal.
4. In the data table, record any signs of chemical changes that you observe in each of the wells.
Look for changes in color, formation of a precipitate, or bubbles.
Metal
HCl
CuCl2
MgCl2
AlCl3
ZnCl2
Cu
Mg
Al
Zn
Questions
1. Which of the (slow)
metals reacted with the most solutions? _______
2. Which of the metals reacted with the fewest solutions? ________
3. List the 4 metals in order from most reactive to least reactive: _____ _____ _____ _____
4. Which of the metals you tested were able to react with HCl? ____ ____ ____
5. Pretend hydrogen was a metal. Rewrite your reactivity list (#3) including hydrogen (from HCl):
(most reactive) _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ (least reactive)
6. Refer to the activity series on TableJ, which lists the most reactive metals on top & least reactive
on bottom. Do your results in #5 agree with the list? YES / NO / SOMEWHAT
7. If we added silver, Ag, to the list, which of the solutions would you expect it to react with?
8. If we added iron, Fe, to the list, which of the solutions would you expect it to react with?
9. For the positive tests above, write-out all the single replacement reactions which took place (sep. sheet):