Question

Four metals A, B, C and D are, in turn, added to the following solutions one by one. The observations made are tabulated below:

Metal	Iron (II) sulphate	Copper (II) sulphate	Zinc sulphate	Silver nitrate
A	No reaction	Displacement	-	-
B	Displacement	-	No reaction	-
C	No reaction	No reaction	No reaction	Displacement
D	No reaction	No reaction	No reaction	No reaction

Answer the following questions based on above information:
(i) Which is the most active metal and why?
(ii) What would be observed if B is added to a solution of copper (II) sulphate and why?
(iii) Arrange the metals A, B, C and D in order of increasing reactivity.
(iv) Container of which metal can be used to store both zinc sulphate solution and silver nitrate solution. Give reason for your choice.
(v) Which of the above solutions can be easily stored in a computer made up of any of these metals?

Answer 1

When A, B, C, and D are reacted with iron sulphate, then only B will displace iron from iron sulphate. Hence, B is more reactive than iron.
When A, B, C, and D are reacted with copper sulphate, then only A will displace copper from copper sulphate. Hence, A is more reactive than copper.
When A, B, C, and D are reacted with zinc sulphate, then no reaction takes place. Hence, C is less reactive than iron, copper, and zinc.
When A, B, C, and D are reacted with silver nitrate, then only C will displace silver from silver nitrate. Hence, C is more reactive than silver.
D is less reactive than iron, copper, zinc, and silver.

(a) So, from the following results, we can conclude that B is the most reactive metal.

(b) When B is added to the copper sulphate solution then it will displace copper from copper sulphate.

(c) Increasing order of reactivity of A, B, C, and D is:
D < C < A < B.

(d) As D is less reactive from all the metal, so D can be used as a container to store zinc sulphate and silver nitrate solutions.

(e) Zinc sulphate can be easily stored in a container made up of these metals.