Describe reactivity series of metals. Also describe an experiment to decide the order of reactivity of Fe, Cu and Ag.

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Solution

The activity of different metals is different. Some metals lose electrons easily and are more active, whereas some metals do not lose electrons so easily and are less active. The following principle is taken into consideration while determining the activity of a metal: A less active metal can be displaced from the solution of its salt by a more active metal.
The following experiment can be carried out to determine the activity series of Fe, Cu and Ag metals:
i. Take three test tubes $1, 2$ and $3$ .
ii. In test tube $1$ , add $0.1$ gm of ferrous sulphate $(F e S O_{4} .7 H_{2} O)$ .
iii. In test tube $2$ , add $0.1$ gm of ferrous sulphate $(C u S O_{4} .5 H_{2} O)$ .
iv. In test tube $3$ , add $0.1$ gm of silver nitrate $(A g N O_{3})$ .
v. Add $10$ ml of distilled water in all the three test tubes.
vi. Add zinc metal in test tube $1$ , iron nail in test tube $2$ and copper wire in test tube $3$ . The following results can be observed after half an hour.
Test tube
Test tube contents
Observation(On metal)
Observation(in solution)
$1$
$F e S O_{4} .7 H_{2} O + 10$ ml water $+$ Zinc metal
Zinc metal shows colour of iron metal
Colour of ferrous sulphate solution changes from light green to colourless
$2$
$C u S O_{4} .5 H_{2} O + 10 m l$ water $+$ Iron nail
Iron nail shows brown colour due to deposition of copper metal
Colour of copper sulphate changes from dark blue to light blue
$3$
$A g N O_{3} + 10 m l +$ Water $+$ Copper wire
Shining white colour silver is deposited on copper wire
Colour of silver nitrate changes from colourless to light
Thus, at the end of the experiment, we can conclude that
i. Zn is more active than Fe as Fe is displaced from $F e S O_{4}$ solution by Z, i.e., Zn $>$ Fe.
ii. Fe is more active than Cu as Cu is displaced from $C u S O_{4}$ solution by Fe, i.e., Fe $>$ Cu.
iii. Cu is more active than Ag as Ag is displaced from $A g N O_{3}$ solution by Cu, i.e., Cu $>$ Ag.
iv. Thus, the order of activity of these metals will be Zn $>$ Fe $>$ Cu $>$ Ag.
The activity series of common metals is K $>$ Na $>$ Ca $>$ Mg $>$ Al $>$ Zn $>$ Fe $>$ Pb $>$ [H] $>$ Cu $>$ Hg $>$ Ag $>$ Au.

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Test tube	Test tube contents	Observation(On metal)	Observation(in solution)
$1$	$F e S O_{4} .7 H_{2} O + 10$ ml water $+$ Zinc metal	Zinc metal shows colour of iron metal	Colour of ferrous sulphate solution changes from light green to colourless
$2$	$C u S O_{4} .5 H_{2} O + 10 m l$ water $+$ Iron nail	Iron nail shows brown colour due to deposition of copper metal	Colour of copper sulphate changes from dark blue to light blue
$3$	$A g N O_{3} + 10 m l +$ Water $+$ Copper wire	Shining white colour silver is deposited on copper wire	Colour of silver nitrate changes from colourless to light