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Question

Identify the elements with the following property and arrange them in increasing order of their reactivity:

(a) An element that is a soft and reactive metal

(b) The metal which is an important constituent of limestone

(c) The metal which exists in a liquid state at room temperature


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Solution

Part 1: Identifying the element

(a) A soft and reactive metal:

  • Sodium is an alkali metal, it is soft and can be cut by a knife.
  • The atomic number of SodiumNa is 11 and the electronic configuration can be written as1s22s22p63s1.
  • Sodium can easily lose one electron from its outermost to attain noble gas electronic configuration.
  • It reacts vigorously with water to form Hydrogen gas and release heat.

(b) An important constituent of limestone:

  • Limestone has the chemical formula CaCO3
  • Calcium is the main component of limestone and its chemical name is calcium carbonate.
  • Calcium is an alkaline earth metal.
  • The atomic number of calcium is 20 and the electronic configuration can be written as 1s22s22p63s23p64s2.

(c) Metal that exists in the liquid state at room temperature:

  • Mercury exists as a liquid at room temperature.
  • Mercury is a transition metal.
  • The atomic number of mercury(Hg) is 80 and the electronic configuration can be written as[Xe]4f145d106s2

Part 2: Increasing order of reactivity:

  • From the reactivity series, Sodium is present above both metals and Calcium is present above mercury.
  • So, Sodium is highly reactive than both these metals and calcium is more reactive than mercury.
  • So, the increasing order of their reactivity is Hg<Ca<Na.

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