In chemistry, the reactivity series is a series of metals, in order of reactivity from highest to lowest. It is used to determine the products of single displacement reactions, whereby metal A will replace another metal B in a solution if A is higher in the series. For other uses, see Chemistry (disambiguation). ... This article is about metallic materials. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Single replacement scheme. ...

Differing definitions

In the UK a reduced version of the series below is taught as part of the GCSE chemistry course, leading to various mnemonics being invented to aid memory.^{[citation needed]} The reactivity series taught in the US is defined by the ease of oxidation and corresponds to the ordering of the table of standard electrode potentials.^{[citation needed]} This is markedly different from the table below. GCSE is an acronym that can refer to: General Certificate of Secondary Education global common subexpression elimination - an optimisation technique used by some compilers This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The most fundamental reactions in chemistry are the redox processes. ... The standard electrode potentials are used to determine the electrochemical potential or the electrode potential of an electrochemical cell or Galvanic cell. ...

A reactivity series of common metals

Here is a series of some of the most common metals, listed in descending order of reactivity.

A metal can replace metals listed below it in the activity series, but not above. For example, sodium is highly active and thus able to replace hydrogen from water: General Name, symbol, number potassium, K, 19 Chemical series alkali metals Group, period, block 1, 4, s Appearance silvery white Standard atomic weight 39. ... Impact from a water drop causes an upward rebound jet surrounded by circular capillary waves. ... For sodium in the diet, see Salt. ... For other uses, see Barium (disambiguation). ... General Name, Symbol, Number strontium, Sr, 38 Chemical series alkaline earth metals Group, Period, Block 2, 5, s Appearance silvery white metallic Standard atomic weight 87. ... For other uses, see Calcium (disambiguation). ... This article is about the chemical element. ... General Name, symbol, number magnesium, Mg, 12 Chemical series alkaline earth metals Group, period, block 2, 3, s Appearance silvery white solid at room temp Standard atomic weight 24. ... For other uses, see acid (disambiguation). ... Aluminum redirects here. ... General Name, symbol, number manganese, Mn, 25 Chemical series transition metals Group, period, block 7, 4, d Appearance silvery metallic Standard atomic weight 54. ... General Name, symbol, number zinc, Zn, 30 Chemical series transition metals Group, period, block 12, 4, d Appearance bluish pale gray Standard atomic weight 65. ... REDIRECT [[ Insert text]]EWWWWWWWWWWWWW YO General Name, symbol, number chromium, Cr, 24 Chemical series transition metals Group, period, block 6, 4, d Appearance silvery metallic Standard atomic weight 51. ... Fe redirects here. ... General Name, Symbol, Number cadmium, Cd, 48 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 12, 5, d Appearance silvery gray metallic Standard atomic weight 112. ... For other uses, see Cobalt (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Nickel (disambiguation). ... This article is about the metallic chemical element. ... General Name, Symbol, Number lead, Pb, 82 Chemical series Post-transition metals or poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 6, p Appearance bluish gray Standard atomic weight 207. ... This article is about the chemistry of hydrogen. ... This article is about the element. ... General Name, Symbol, Number bismuth, Bi, 83 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 15, 6, p Appearance lustrous pink Standard atomic weight 208. ... For other uses, see Copper (disambiguation). ... This article is about the element. ... This article is about the chemical element. ... General Name, Symbol, Number platinum, Pt, 78 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 10, 6, d Appearance grayish white Standard atomic weight 195. ... GOLD refers to one of the following: GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade). ... For sodium in the diet, see Salt. ...

2 Na (s) + 2 H₂O (l) → 2 NaOH (aq) + H₂ (g)

Metals that can replace hydrogen within acids but not water are listed in the middle of the activity series, for example zinc replaces hydrogen in sulfuric acid: For sodium in the diet, see Salt. ... This article is about the chemistry of hydrogen. ... Sodium hydroxide (NaOH), also known as lye, caustic soda and (incorrectly, according to IUPAC nomenclature)[1] sodium hydrate, is a caustic metallic base. ... This article is about the chemistry of hydrogen. ... General Name, symbol, number zinc, Zn, 30 Chemical series transition metals Group, period, block 12, 4, d Appearance bluish pale gray Standard atomic weight 65. ... Sulfuric acid, (also known as sulphuric acid) H2SO4, is a strong mineral acid. ...

Zn (s) + H₂SO₄ (aq) → ZnSO₄ (aq) + H₂ (g)

The reactivity series has applications in electrochemistry, where two dissimilar metals are chosen as electrodes of a battery (though the above table is not exact for this purpose. (See Table of standard electrode potentials). General Name, symbol, number zinc, Zn, 30 Chemical series transition metals Group, period, block 12, 4, d Appearance bluish pale gray Standard atomic weight 65. ... Sulfuric acid, (also known as sulphuric acid) H2SO4, is a strong mineral acid. ... Zinc sulfate (ZnSO4) is a colorless crystalline, water-soluble chemical compound. ... English chemists John Daniell (left) and Michael Faraday (right), both credited to be founders of electrochemistry as known today. ... The values below are standard electrode potentials taken at 25°C in aqueous solution. ...

Simplified Version

The simplified version that is taught in the GCSE and GCE^[1][2] 'O' Level chemistry course, as the basic, are listed below. Higher education and standard level are required to study more metals as shown above. GCSE is an acronym that can refer to: General Certificate of Secondary Education global common subexpression elimination - an optimisation technique used by some compilers This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The General Certificate of Education or GCE is a secondary-level academic qualification, which is used in Britain as well as in some former British colonies. ...

General Name, symbol, number potassium, K, 19 Chemical series alkali metals Group, period, block 1, 4, s Appearance silvery white Standard atomic weight 39. ... For other uses, see Calcium (disambiguation). ... For sodium in the diet, see Salt. ... General Name, symbol, number magnesium, Mg, 12 Chemical series alkaline earth metals Group, period, block 2, 3, s Appearance silvery white solid at room temp Standard atomic weight 24. ... Aluminum redirects here. ... General Name, symbol, number zinc, Zn, 30 Chemical series transition metals Group, period, block 12, 4, d Appearance bluish pale gray Standard atomic weight 65. ... Fe redirects here. ... This article is about the metallic chemical element. ... General Name, Symbol, Number lead, Pb, 82 Chemical series Post-transition metals or poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 6, p Appearance bluish gray Standard atomic weight 207. ... This article is about the chemistry of hydrogen. ... For other uses, see Copper (disambiguation). ... This article is about the chemical element. ... GOLD refers to one of the following: GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade). ...

Significance

The reactivity series determines qualitatively characteristics such as the reactions with water, air and acids as demonstrated above. However it is defined by the nature of the metals in single displacement reactions. For other uses, see acid (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Single replacement scheme. ...

When a metal in elemental form is placed in a solution of a metal salt it may be, overall, more energetically feasible for this "elemental metal" to exist as an ion and the "ionic metal" to exist as the element. Therefore the elemental metal will 'displace' the ionic metal over time, thus the two swap places. Only a metal higher in the reactivity series will displace another. What is really occurring when the two metals swap is that the metal higher on the chain is acting as a reducing agent, and transferring one or more of its electrons to the other metal, which since it is lower on the chain than the first metal is more apt to be oxidized, receive the electron. It follows the basic reaction form of 2Li+Cu²⁺--->2Li⁺+Cu This article is about the electrically charged particle. ...

Lithium metal is the most reactive of all metals....it is the one with the highest ΔH of reaction gives away one of its electrons.... the reason that K metal or Cs metal seem more reactive when placed in water is because their atoms are larger meaning their electrons are held farther out from the nucleus, making it easier for them to give them up at a faster rate than lithium...which means that they release more energy in a smaller amount of time then lithium can because they can let go of their electrons faster than lithium ..but over all, a mole of lithium releases a lot more energy than a mole of caesium when giving away its electrons.

References

External links

• Science Line Chemistry