Question

State whether the following is possible.

Using copper and hydrochloric acid to produce hydrogen gas.

Answer 1

Reactivity Series: The reactivity series is the tabular arrangement of metal in the decreasing order of their reactivity from top to the bottom.

• According to the reactivity series, the metals placed above the others are more reactive than the ones that are below them.
• More reactive metals can displace less reactive metals from their compounds.

Reaction between Copper and Hydrochloric acid:

• A metal placed above hydrogen in reactivity series can displace the hydrogen from dilute acids.
• In the reactivity series, copper(Cu) lies below hydrogen(H). i.e, copper is less reactive than hydrogen.
• As a result, Copper will not displace Hydrogen from Hydrochloric acid(HCl).
• Therefore, the reaction is not possible.