The Reactivity Series
The Reactivity Series
The Reactivity Series
The reactivity series is a series of elements that are metals , arranged in the order of decreasing reactivity from top to bottom.
The reactivity of these elements is considered based on the no of valence e-s and the ease with which these e- can be donated to atoms of other elements, in order that the donor atoms may achieve a stable configuration near to the nearest inert gas in the periodic table.
In the periodic table we know that across a period ,with increase in atomic no . , progressing from left to right the ionization potential increases and it becomes increasingly diffuicult for atoms of elements to lose e- and form ions with high oxidation numbers.
So such atoms are said to be less reactive and they will not displace another atom from its salt under acidic conditions easily. Based on such pre conceptions the elements are arranged in order of decreasing reactivity with water and acids in a series of elements called the reactivity series.
The reactivity series of elements involve mostly atoms of the metallic elements though there are included 2 non metals as Carbon and Hydrogen. for standard comparisons.The Reactivity series of soime of the major reacting metals is as follows:
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1) carbon ----The metals that are above C in the reactivity series cannot be extracted with C . That is to say these metals in their ores are first converted to their oxides and then the oxides are reduced by carbon to get the pure metal. Thje position in the reactivity series indicate whether this is possible or not.
for example the metal just below C in the reactivity series is Zn and it can be extracted by the help of CO as reducing agent while those below Zn cannot get extracted at all by C . Also the metals that are above C in the reactivity series can't get extracted by using C as the reducing agent -- electrolysis is used to obtain the metals fro their ores, eg Al from bauxite is obtained by electrolysis.
As far as the metals below H are concerned, these metals are generally found in pure form but associated with impurities that can be removed by lesser expensive methods rather than electrolytic methods.
This was as far as the position of C and the importance of C in the reactivity series is concerned. The other importance of placing the metals in decreasing order of reactivity from top to bottom is
2) The reactivity of the metals with cold water :All those metals as K, Na, Li, Ca and Sr react with cold water in decreasing order with the element K reacting so violently, that the metal catches fire as it comes in contact with water and Sr reacting less vigorously with water but the reaction is so brisk ,that soon all of the Sr will dissappear in water liberating H2 gas.
3) Reaction with hot water or steam:The elements like Mg react only with steam liberating H2 that gets burnt and Al does not react at all with either hot water or steam. The reason is, that when these metals are treated with water ,then a thin layer of metal oxide is formed ,that acts as a protective coating on the metals and prevents reaction with water further.
4) Reaction with acid: The elements that are below H are so less reactive that they don't react with cold water at all. These elements however react with certain acids as HNO3 which is a strong oxidising agent.
Significance of Reactivity Series
1) This series is very useful in studying the single displacement reactions which are represented as :
A+ BC -----> AC + B where A and B are cations and C is an anion.
Thus when a metal ion is reacted with a salt solution it becomes easy to predict the outcome of the reaction . For example :
if Cu is reacted with ZnNO3 we can expect no reaction, as Zn is above Cu in the reactivity series and those elements that are above alone can displace the elements below, from their salts.So Cu will not be able to displace Zn from the salt of ZnNO3.
2) To predict the position of the metal in the reactivity series: From the reaction of metal cations with different one can predict
the position of the metal in the reactivity series. For example:
From the following series of reactions viz.
.a) Cu + Ag NO3 --> CuNO3 + Ag b) Cu NO3 + Zn ----> Zn NO3 + Cu and
c) Mg + Zn NO3 ----> MgNO3 + Zn , it is easy to say that Mg is above Zn and Zn is above Cu in the reactivity series of the metals and Cu is above Ag in the reactivity series.
3) To find out which element can get reduced easily: The elements from the bottom to the top of the reactivity series are good reducing agents and lose electrons easily. Thus K is better reducing agent than Mg.
4) Significance of hydrogen in the reactivity series: The elements above hydrogen in the series can displace hydrogen from the protic acids under suitable conditions.
Reactivity Series of Non Metals
The non metals like chlorine, bromine and iodine are arranged in an order as of decreasing reactivity as below:
Cl2
Br2
I2
Fluorine is so reactive than either chlorine or bromine and so cannot be placed in the reactivity series of non metals. Astatine is a radio active element and is very rare on the earth's surface .So it is not included in the reactivity series of non metals.
Significance of the Reactivity Series of Non Metals
From the reaction of a halogen with a halide salt it is possible to predict whether or not a new halide salt will be formed in the reaction by exchange of halide atoms.
These are the few uses of the reactivity series of metals and non metals.
by: Omkar Nayak
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