Question

Copper does not react with Hydrochloric acid or dilute Sulphuric acid. Explain it.

Answer 1

• In reactivity series, Hydrogen (H) is placed above Copper (Cu).
• Copper is less reactive than Hydrogen and cannot displace hydrogen from its acidic solution of Hydrochloric acid (HCl) or dilute Sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄).
• Copper only reacts with concentrated acids, like - Nitric acid $\left({\mathrm{HNO}}_3\right)$, Conc. Sulphuric acid $\left({\mathrm{H}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4\right)$
• Example -

$$\begin{gathered} \underset{\mathrm{Copper}\mathrm{metal}}{\mathrm{Cu}}+\underset{\mathrm{Hydrochloric}\mathrm{acid}}{\mathrm{Dil}.\mathrm{HCl}}\to \mathrm{no}\mathrm{reaction} \\ \underset{\mathrm{Copper}\mathrm{metal}}{\mathrm{Cu}}+\underset{\mathrm{Sulphuric}\mathrm{acid}}{\mathrm{Dil}.{\mathrm{H}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4}\to \mathrm{no}\mathrm{reaction} \end{gathered}$$

Hence, Copper does not react with Hydrochloric acid or dilute Sulphuric acid