Archer G11
Partner: Judy
6 October 2011
An Activity Series
Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to verify the activity series of five metals and three halogens. This can
be done by reacting the metal with various metal solutions to see which of them creates a displacement
reaction. As for the halogens, it can be done in a similar way as metal, but with the halogens in their
liquid form and ion form. The significance of this experiment is that geologist could use them to extract
minerals from ores.
Hypothesis: The hypothesis of this experiment is that the experiment will help verify the activity series
of metals and halogens. This is because the reaction would not occur if the substance trying to replace
the other substance is less reactive than that other substance. If the reaction did happen, there would
be an apparent change in the sample. For example, if one metal was replaced by the other, the solid in
the solution would be changed to the metal that was replaced. As for halogens, each halogen possess
different color from another and so if one halogen was replaced by the other, the color of the solution
would be changed.
Materials:
Part 1
Materials
6 × 6 mm Copper foil (Cu)
0.1 M Copper (ll) nitrate (Cu(NO3)2)
6 × 6 mm Lead foil (Pb)
0.1 M Lead nitrate (Pb(NO3)2)
6 mm Magnesium ribbon (Mg)
0.1 M Magnesium nitrate (Mg(NO3)2)
0.1 M Silver nitrate (AgNO3)
6 × 6 mm Zinc foil (Zn)
0.1 M Zinc nitrate (ZnNO3)
5mL Beral-type pipette
13 × 100mm test tube
Labeling tape
Quantity
4 mm3
4mL
4 mm3
4mL
4 mm3
4mL
4mL
4 mm3
4mL
5 pipettes
24 test tubes
30 labels
Part 2
Materials
Bromine water (Br2)
Chlorine water (Cl2)
Iodine water (I2)
Mineral oil
0.1 M Potassium iodide solution (KI)
0.1 M Sodium bromide (NaBr)
0.1 M Sodium chloride (NaCl)
Labeling tape
Quantity
3mL
3mL
3mL
36mL
5mL
5mL
5mL
1 roll
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13 × 100mm test tube
Test tube rack
Pipette
Dropper
Size 2 rubber stopper
18 test tubes
2 racks
1 pipette
6 droppers
18 stoppers
Procedures:
Part 1. Determine an Activity Series for Metals
1.) Place a reaction plate with at least 24 wells on a piece of white paper and make sure there are 6
wells across and 4 wells down.
2.) Place a test tube in every well
3.) Label each test tubes as following:
4.) Put 1mL of Copper(ll) nitrate solution into wells B1, C1, and D1 using a pipet
5.) Put 1mL of magnesium nitrate solutions in wells A2, C2, and D2 using a different pipet
6.) Put 1mL of lead nitrate solution in wells A3, B3, and D3 using a different pipet
7.) Put 1mL of zinc nitrate solution in wells A4, B4, and C4 using a different pipet
8.) Put 1mL of silver nitrate solution in every test tube in column 5
9.) Place a piece of copper metal in every test tube in row A
10.) Place a piece of magnesium metal in every test tube in row B
11.) Place a piece of lead metal in every test tube in row C
12.) Place a piece of zinc metal in every test tube in row D
13.) Swirl every test tube one by one and make observations
14.) Observe every test tube once a while within 10 mins
15.) Determine whether a reaction has occurred or not?
Part 2. Determine an Activity Series for Some Halogens
1.) Label 3 test tubes as Cl2, Br2, and I2
2.) Transfer approximately 1mL of Cl2 in the labeled test tube
3.) Transfer approximately 1mL of Br2 into the Br2 test tube using another dropper
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4.) Transfer approximately 1mL of I2 to the I2 test tube with a pipette
5.) Add 2mL of mineral oil into each test tube
6.) Cork all three test tubes
7.) Shake each of them for 10 seconds
8.) Observe the change in the test tube
9.) Record the data
10.) Label 3 more test tubes as NaCl, NaBr, and KI
11.) Transfer approximately 1mL of 0.1 M NaCl to the NaCl test tube
12.) Transfer approximately 1mL of 0.1 M NaBr to the NaBr test tube
13.) Transfer approximately 1mL of 0.1 M KI to the last test tube
14.) Add 2mL of mineral oil into each test tube
15.) Cork all three test tubes
16.) Shake each of them for 10 seconds
17.) Observe the change in the test tube
18.) Record the observation
19.) Repeat step 1 to 19 for two more times
20.) Arrange the test tube so that there’s 6 test tube in the front of the rack with 2 Cl2 test tubes in
the left, 2 Br2 test tubes in the middle, and 2 I2 test tubes in the right
21.) Label the test tubes as 1-6 from left to right
22.) Add 1mL of NaBr to test tube 1 and 6
23.) Cork the test tubes
24.) Shake both test tubes for 10 seconds
25.) Record the observation
26.) Add 1mL of KI to test tube 2 and 4
27.) Repeat step 23 to 25
28.) Add 1mL of NaCl to test tube 3 and 5
29.) Repeat step 23 to 25
Results:
Cu (s) + 2Ag+ (aq)  2Ag (s) + Cu2+ (aq)
Mg (s) + Cu2+ (aq)  Cu (s) + Mg2+ (aq)
Mg (s) + Pb2+ (aq)  Pb (s) + Mg2+ (aq)
Mg (s) + Zn2+ (aq)  Zn (s) + Mg2+ (aq)
Mg (s) + 2Ag+ (aq)  2Ag (s) + Mg2+ (aq)
Pb (s) + Cu2+ (aq)  Cu (s) + Pb2+ (aq)
Pb (s) + 2Ag+ (aq)  Ag (s) + Pb2+ (aq)
Zn (s) + Cu2+ (aq)  Cu (s) + Zn2+ (aq)
Archer G11
Zn (s) + Pb2+ (aq)  Pb (s) + Zn2+ (aq)
Zn (s) + 2Ag+ (aq)  2Ag (s) + Zn2+ (aq)
Cu2+ (aq)
Part 1. An Activity Series for Some Metals
Mg2+ (aq)
Pb2+ (aq)
Zn2+ (aq)
Cu (s)
×
Mg (s)
Color of Mg
metal fades
along the
reaction.
Bubbles
forming.
Cu is reduced.
Mg is oxidized.
Pb (s)
Color of the Cu
solution fades
away.
Pb is oxidized.
Cu is reduced.
Slow reaction.
Zn is oxidized.
Cu is reduced.
Zn (s)
Ag+ (aq)
No reaction
No reaction
No reaction
Cu is oxidized.
Ag is reduced.
×
Bubbles form
during the
reaction.
Pb is extracted.
Pb is reduced.
Mg is oxidized.
Slow reaction.
Mg is oxidized.
Zn is reduced.
Fast Reaction.
Mg is oxidized.
Ag is reduced.
No reaction
×
Little reaction
occurred after
a long period
of time.
Pb is oxidized.
Zn is reduced.
Fast Reaction.
Pb is oxidized.
Ag is reduced.
No reaction
Medium
reaction
(slower than
Ag).
Zn is oxidized.
Pb is reduced.
×
Zn is oxidized.
Ag is reduced.
2Br- (aq) + Cl2 (g)  Br2 (g) + 2Cl- (aq)
2I- (aq) + Cl2 (g)  I2 (g) + 2Cl- (aq)
2I- (aq) + Br2 (g)  I2 (g) + 2Br- (aq)
Halogens
Cl2
Br2
I2
Part 2. An Activity Series for Some Halogens
Color in Mineral Oil
Halide Ions
Colorless in mineral oil
NaCl
From pale yellow to
NaBr
orange yellow
From light yellow to
KI
pink/purple color
Color in Mineral Oil
Colorless
Colorless
Colorless
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Part 2. Reaction Data Table
Cl2 (aq)
Br2 (aq)
Reactants
Cl- (aq)
×
Light orange on top
while colorless on the
bottom.
Similar color to Br2 in
mineral oil.
No reaction
Br- (aq)
Orange on top with
milky color on the
bottom.
Different color from Cl2
in mineral oil.
Br is oxidized.
Cl is reduced.
×
I- (aq)
Dark purple color on
the top with a brownbronze color in the
bottom with some
purple dots.
Different from Cl2 in
mineral oil.
I is oxidized.
Cl is reduced.
Magenta color on top
with yellow oil-like color
on the bottom. Have
small purple dots on the
bottom.
Different from the Br2 in
mineral oil.
I is oxidized.
Br is reduced.
Experiment
Magnesium
Zinc
Lead
Copper
Silver
Experiment
Chlorine
Bromine
Iodine
I2 (aq)
Light purple color on
top while colorless on
the bottom. Have a
purple dot on the
bottom.
Same color as the I2 in
mineral oil.
No reaction
Milky pink-purple color
on top. Colorless on the
bottom with many little
dots of pink-purple
color.
Similar color to the I2 in
mineral oil.
No reaction
×
Metal Activity Series
Textbook – Chemistry: The Central Science (11th
Edition)
Magnesium
Zinc
Lead
Copper
Silver
Halogens Activity Series
Textbook – Chemistry: The Central Science (11th
Edition)
Chlorine
Bromine
Iodine
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Analysis:
Both the experiment and the book showed the same activity series. They both showed that magnesium
is the most reactive of all five metals while silver is the least reactive as well as the easiest to be
oxidized. This is because the reactivity of an element increases from top to bottom because the
ionization energy decrease thus it became easier to be oxidized. To determine that a reaction occurs in
the halogen, the observation must be made from the color of the solutions. If a reaction occurs, the
color of the halogen solution will change. Halide ions should not dissolve in mineral oil because mineral
oil is nonpolar where as the halide ions are. For liquid, the rule for dissolving is that nonpolar liquid
dissolves in nonpolar liquid while the polar liquid dissolves in polar liquid. Solvent extraction is the
separation of compounds base on their solubility. In part 2, this technique was used in order to separate
the chlorine solution and the chloride ions apart. This was done by adding the mineral oil to the test
tube so the chlorine solution will be dissolved in mineral oil. Thus, the chlorine solution will be separated
from the chloride ions which do not dissolve. It was necessary to test the halide ions for their color in
mineral oil because otherwise, what caused the colors would not be known. It could be the reaction
between the halogen molecules and the halide ions. However, it could also be that the color of the
halogen molecules in mineral oil and the halide ions in mineral oil were mixed together causing a
different color. There would be no difference in case calcium bromide was used instead of sodium
bromide. This is because the alkali metals in compounds are spectator ions and do not affect the
reaction.
Conclusion: The hypothesis of is true. The experiment actually helped confirm reactivity of metals and
halogens. There could have been several errors during the course of the experiment. An error could be
that the test tubes were not clean and caused the color that was apparent to be affected by the
contaminants. This would caused the color to be altered from what it should have been. Another error
could be that the color observed was incorrect. The colors were blending into each other, so it was hard
to determine which color was which. Thus, it could be that the color shown from the reaction was
thought to be from the halogen mixing with mineral oil and so was thought that no reaction had
happened. In the future, the test tubes should be made sure that they were clean. Also, when
determining the colors, they should be observed by others as well to make sure whether a reaction had
occurred or not.
Archer G11