reactivities of metals lab

Adam 

Sydney

Livia

Abstract 

The purpose of this lab was to observe and record the reactions of zinc, magnesium, and copper in 4 different solutions including copper nitrate, magnesium nitrate, zinc nitrate, and silver nitrate. It was difficult to keep track of which metals reacted with which solution when we were recording our observations, but everything worked out in the end and we concluded that this lab was fairly simple. After gathering all of the class data, we found that zinc and magnesium nitrate could have easily been eliminated as solutions because none of the metals reacted with them. 

Procedure

We first constructed a data table in order for us to record our upcoming observations. Once we got the strips of each metal, we began to clean the surface by rubbing it with sandpaper. Then we placed the strips in each well of the wellplate. After placing 10 drops of 0.2 M solution in each sample, we waited several minutes before recording our observations. 

Metals:	Reaction w/ Cu2 + Copper Nitrate	Reaction w/ Mg2+ Magnesium Nitrate	Reaction w/ Zn2+ Zinc Nitrate	Reaction w/ Ag+
Copper:	NR	NR	NR	Tope/Brown Bubbles formed where Ag+ made contact - foamy
Zinc:	Dark spot on the metal where Cu2+ made contact.	NR	NR	All liquid formed a large and black pool of Ag+ on top of the metal strip.
Magnesium:	Turned blue w/a lot of light blue formed on the strip. Cu2+ surrounding it turned green.  Formation of a solid.	NR	NR	Brown like precipitate formed on the bottom of the well plate. Black particles formed on the metal strip.

1. Magnesium and zinc both reacted with the same amount of solutions. 

2. Copper reacted with the fewest solutions. 

3. We would not expect silver metal to react with any solution because it is very unreactive.
4. Magnesium, zinc, copper.
5. The outside surface of a penny is made of copper instead of zinc because zinc is more chemically reactive.
6. a. If silver was less expensive, then it could be a good choice for the inside of a penny because it is extremely unreactive. 
     b. Because it's very expensive and hard to obtain. 
7. a. Silver is most likely to be found in an uncombined state in nature. 
     b. Magnesium is least likely to be found chemically uncombined with other elements.
8. a. Yes it would have been possible to eliminate one of more of the metal-solution combinations and still obtain all the info needed to create chemical activity ratings for the four metals.
      b. Magnesium nitrate and zinc nitrate could have been removed for all of the metals.

With the aggregated class data known, we could easily conclude that all of the metals did not react with zinc and magnesium nitrate. We also found that all of the metals reacted with silver and copper nitrate.