Name_______KEY_____________Block_________Date______________________
Activity Series Investigation (Formative Assessment)
Objective: to observe the chemical activity of select metals
Materials:
Goggles
KNO3
AgNO3
HCl
gloves
well plate
metals
Mg(NO3)2
Zn(NO3)2
CuSO4
distilled water
droppers
waste beaker
petri dish for metal transitions
tweezers to get out of metal stock
Procedure for Part I:
1. Put a small piece of copper in each of 6 wells. Choose uniform pieces of metal.
2. Make a matrix in your lab notebook to keep track of any observations.
3. Add reagents to the copper as follows:
 Well 1: add 5 drops of KNO3
 Well 2: add 5 drops of Mg(NO3)2
 Well 3: add 5 drops of Zn(NO3)2
 Well 4: add 5 drops of CuSO4
 Well 5: add 5 drops of AgNO3
 Well 6: add 5 drops of distilled water
4. Observe the wells for a few minutes. Use the tweezers to make sure your metal is immersed.
(rinse the tweezers after each use) Record your observations
5. Discard the contents of the wells in the waste beaker.
6. Clean the well plate and rinse with distilled water.
7. Dry the well plate.
8. Repeat steps 1-7 using each of the following metals: Mg, Zn, and Sn.
Procedure for Part II:
1. You will use only one reagent and 4 metals.
2. To each of 4 wells, place one piece of the metals.
3. To each well, add 5 drops of HCl.
4. Observe the wells for several minutes and keep track of any observations.
5. Discard the contents of the wells in the waste beaker.
6. Clean the well plate and rinse with distilled water.
7. Dry the well plate.
Questions to be answered before you leave. Turn the lab in before the end of class. Write neatly.
1. Which of the four solid metals tested reacted with the most solutions? Mg
2. Which of the four solid metals tested reacted with the fewest solutions? Cu
3. List the metals (including Ag and Hydrogen) in order of their reactivity, starting with the most
reactive metal.
Should be:
Might be:
Mg > Zn > Sn > H > Cu > Ag
Mg > Zn > H > Sn > Cu > Ag b/c difficult to see reaction of
Sn in HCl
4. Give your rationale for the order you listed in the previous question.
Mg solid was able to displace the ions in solution every time, Zn could for all solutions except the Mg
solution. Mg and Zn reacted a lot in HCl others did not, indicating that the H+ ion was forced to be
reduced by the Mg and Zn but not the others, placing H as the next most reactive (although Sn should
have reacted with HCl, most likely too difficult to see in the wells, so lab data doesn’t support placing Sn
before H in the series), Cu comes before Ag because Cu was only able to reduce Ag and nothing else. Ag
was not able to pawn electrons on any of the others, so it comes last/least reactive.
5. Based on your activity series, explain why the Statue of Liberty in the USA was made of copper
instead of zinc.
When zinc solid is exposed to H+ ions, like those found in acid rain, the Zn solid it will reduce the ions of
H+ and go into solution as Zn2+, thus dissolving the Zn over time. However, copper is not more reactive
than H, so the copper will remain a solid.
6. Consider the reaction of the copper metal with the silver nitrate.
a. Write the chemical reaction.
Cu (s) + AgNO3 (aq)  Cu(NO3)2 (aq) + Ag(s)
b. Write the reaction as a net ionic reaction.
Cu (s) + Ag+  Cu2+ (aq)+ Ag(s)
c. Write the reaction as half-reactions. Label each.
Oxidation: Cu(s)  Cu2+ (aq)
Reduction: Ag+  Ag(s)
7. Group 1 metals are more reactive than group 2 metals. You might then suspect that elements
become less reactive as atomic number increases in a period on the periodic table. Do the
transition metals you studied in this investigation support this assumption? Use data from the
investigation to support your answer.
No, because based on our limited data, zinc and tin were more reactive than copper, so the premise does
not seem to hold true for the transition metals. Not surprising since the transition metals act differently
due to ½ filled d orbitals, etc.
KNO3
Mg(NO3)2
Cu
Mg
N
N
N
N
Zn
Sn
N
N
N
N
Zn(NO3)2
N
Y (slightly
darker
color)
N
N
CuSO4
AgNO3
HCl
N
Y
Y
Y
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
N (but
should be,
close on
series