Question

Do all the metals react with a base? If not, which metals react and why?

Answer 1

• Some metal reacts with a base to form salts and hydrogen (H₂) gas.
• Most metals do not react with bases but zinc(Zn) metal does because it is amphoteric. That is, it reacts with acids as well as bases.

When sodium hydroxide solution is heated with zinc, then sodium zincate and hydrogen gas are formed.

$\underset{\mathrm{Sodium}\mathrm{hydroxide}}{2\mathrm{NaOH}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Zinc}}{\mathrm{Zn}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)}\to \underset{\mathrm{Sodium}\mathrm{zincate}}{{\mathrm{Na}}_2{\mathrm{ZnO}}_2\left(\mathrm{s}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Hydrogen}}{{\mathrm{H}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}$