Activity Series of Metals: Designing and conducting an experiment
In this lab, you will be designing your own procedure to determine an activity series
given available metals and solutions.
1. Your procedure will have to be approved before you do your experiment.
2. You will have to record your observations and final results on a separate piece of
paper.
3. Please answer all the questions below as well and hand in.
4. Do not forget to include a safety component in your lab.
Materials
You have the following metals and solutions available to you; you do not have to use all
of them.
Metals:
Magnesium
Zinc
Tin
Copper
Aluminum powder
Fe
Solutions:
Fe (NO3)3/ FeSO4
AgNO3
CuSO4
ZnSO4/Zn(NO3)2
Na2SO4/NaCl
HCl
KCl
Ni(NO3)2
BaCl2
Al(NO3)3
Pre-lab questions:
1. If you use magnesium as one of the metals to test, why would you clean it with
sandpaper first?
When we use Mg as one of the metals to test. We would clean it with sandpaper first,
because Mg has been lying in the lab and will likely have a thin layer or covering of
oxygen. It will be magnesium oxide, which slow the reaction.
2. What equipment could you use to best see any chemical reactions?
The equipment we use to best see any chemical reactions are:
2 spot plates, and 4 test tubes to observe the chemical reactions.
We use pipet to drop enough of the solution on metal to cover it. We also use test tube
holder to hold our test tubes.
2. What safety precautions do you need to follow when using HCl? What do the WHMIS
symbols mean?

We need to wear goggles to protect our eye from chemicals.

We have to wear apron while we do the lab to keep from spilling chemicals in our
body.

We would wear gloves to protect our hands from acids.
3. How will you dispose of the chemicals once you are finished?
We use a glass container to dispose the waste chemicals and gently wash the equipment
after. We shouldn’t mix solids and liquids in the same container. We will leave the
washed equipment in air to dry and nicely put them back on its spot.
Analysis:
1. Record all of your observations in a table format and provide your final activity series
(from the most reactive metal to the least) on a separate piece of paper (stapled to this
one).
2. For each single displacement reaction that occurred, write the corresponding balanced
chemical equation (on a separate sheet of paper).
3. How can an activity series of metals be use to predict single displacement reactions.
Activity series of metals is from the most reactive to less reactive one. When a metal
reacts with the given solution or displace the other metal in the solution will be conceder
as a reactive metal than the one, which has been displaced. Less reactive element won’t
replace the most reactive one. Therefore, the activity series or metals can be used to
predict the happening of single displacement reactions.
4. Given that lithium reacts with water and that magnesium does not, do you expect
lithium to react with HCl? If so, what would be the balanced chemical equation?
Yes, lithium reacts with HCl, because Li is more reactive than H.
2Li(s)+ 2HCl(aq) → 2LiCl(s) + H2 (g)
5. What would your metal of choice be for long-lasting pipes in your home – copper or
iron? Why?
The metal of choice for long-lasting pipes in our home is copper, because copper doesn’t
react with the water or acid remainders in the pipes. Copper is less reactive than H in the
activity series of metals.
We also know that iron is reactive than hydrogen in the activity series of metals, and it
does react with water. Therefore, the best choice is copper for our home pipes.
Observation:
Fe(NO3)3 /
FeSO4
Mg
Zn
- Change
of colour,
Mg turned
to brown
-Change
of colour
Zn got
darker
(blackish)
Sn
NR
Al
NR
-Change of
colour to
light yellow
-Bubbles
formed
-Blue
colour of
copper
sulfate
appears to
fade
-Change
of colour
–minor
bubbles
-Change
of colour
-Sn got
darker or
black
NR
ZnSO4/Zn
(NO3)2
NR
NR
NR
Na2SO4/NaCl
KCl
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
Ni(NO3)2
BaCl2
NR
Al(NO3)3
HCl
Fe
-Cu
colour
changed
to silver
-Ag was
collecting
away
AgNO3
CuSO4
Cu
-Bubbles
formed
-Bubbles
formed
NR
NR
-Change of
colour
-Ni(NO3)2
turned light
green
NR
-Change of
colour
-Ni(NO3)2
turned light
green
NR
NR
NR
-Fizzes and
gets hot
-Change of
colour, iron
got darker
Metals that displace other metals
3Mg + 2Fe(NO3)3 →
Metals that don’t react
Metals displace H
Mg + Na2(SO4) → NR
Sn+2HCl → SnCl2+ H2
Sn + Fe(NO3)3 → NR
Zn+ 2HCl → ZnCl2+H2
Cu + BaCl2 → NR
Fe+ 2HCl → FeCl2+ H2
Al + Fe(NO3)3 → Al(NO3)3 + Fe
Mg + BaCl2 → NR
Mg+2HCl →MgCl2+H2
Sn + CuSO4 → Sn(SO4) + Cu
Mg + KCl → NR
Fe + Ni(NO3)2 → Fe(NO3)2 + Ni
Cu + HCl → NR
3Mg(NO3)2+2Fe
3Zn + 2Fe(NO3)3 → 3Zn(NO3)2 +
2Fe
2Al + 3Ni(NO3)2 →
2Al(NO3)3+3Ni
Cu + AgNO3 → Cu(NO3) + Ag
Activity Series Of Metals
K, Ba, Na, Mg, Zn, Al, Fe, Ni, Sn, H, Cu, Ag
Conclusion:
Metal reactivity increases from bottom to the top of the periodic table of
elements.