Chemistry 11–12 · Year 11

Building a metal activity series from reactions with water, dilute acid, oxygen and metal-ion solutions

Module 3: Reactive Chemistry

PracticalMedium risk

School laboratory, not for home

In a school laboratory, with a teacher supervising, under the school's risk assessment. Not for home.

The idea

Metals can be ranked by how readily they give up electrons; a more active metal displaces a less active metal from solution and reacts faster with acid.

Safety card

Medium riskLearners carry it out, with a teacher supervising

Setting: In a school laboratory, with a teacher supervising, under the school's risk assessment. Not for home.

Hazards

1 mol/L hydrochloric acid irritant
copper(II) sulfate harmful
tin(II) chloride irritant
hydrogen flammable
hot metal pieces

Controls

well-plate scale for the ion grid
one metal piece per well, no pouring back into stock
splint test on one tube only, away from the acid bottle
eye protection
metal wastes collected

Note

NSW Department of Education Chemical Safety in Schools (CSIS) package, 2021 Technical Update: Section 1.7 (risk assessment) and Volume 2 Appendix D (generic assessment advice and DoE chemical categories); record a RiskAssess (riskassess.com.au) risk assessment before the lesson and check the school's hazardous chemical register (CSIS Section 1.9) for local restrictions.

What you need

Strips or granules (about 0.2 g each) of magnesium, zinc, iron, copper and tin, cleaned with emery paper, eight pieces of each metal (five for the ion grid and one each for the acid, water and oxygen tests)
0.2 mol/L solutions (about 20 mL each) of magnesium sulfate, zinc sulfate, iron(II) sulfate, copper(II) sulfate and tin(II) chloride (the tin(II) chloride made up in dilute hydrochloric acid so it does not hydrolyse)
1 mol/L hydrochloric acid, 40 mL
Well plate with at least 25 wells for the 5 by 5 grid (a 96-well plate, or two 24-well plates side by side), dropper bottles, test tubes and rack, thermometer
Bunsen burner, tongs, porcelain crucible, pipe-clay triangle and tripod for heating zinc and tin

How to do it

Metal-ion grid: put five drops of each metal-ion solution in a row of wells, then add one piece of each metal to each solution (a 5 by 5 grid); after five minutes record any coating, colour change, dissolution or temperature rise. The tin(II) chloride solution is made up in dilute hydrochloric acid, so magnesium, zinc and iron also fizz and dissolve in that row with the acid; there the tin deposit, not fizzing or dissolving, is the evidence of displacement.
Acid: add a piece of each metal to 5 mL of 1 mol/L hydrochloric acid in separate tubes; rank bubbling rate from none to vigorous and test one gas sample with a lit splint.
Water: add a piece of each metal to 5 mL cold water; record any bubbles over five minutes (compare with the calcium and magnesium results from Module 1).
Oxygen: hold the magnesium, iron and copper pieces in the Bunsen flame with tongs for 20 seconds; heat the zinc and the tin in the crucible instead, because they melt (tin at 232 degrees Celsius, zinc at 420 degrees Celsius); record any glow, flame or surface change.
From the four tests write the activity series, then compare it with the order of standard reduction potentials from a data table and explain any disagreement (for example a metal whose oxide coat was not fully removed reacts more slowly than its position predicts).
Write ionic half-equations for every displacement observed.

What you should see

Magnesium displaces every other metal ion (dark deposits, and the copper(II) sulfate well warms noticeably), zinc displaces iron, tin and copper, iron displaces tin and copper (a red-brown copper coat forms on iron in copper(II) sulfate within a minute), tin displaces copper only, and copper displaces none. In the tin(II) chloride wells magnesium, zinc and iron also give off hydrogen with the acid the solution is made up in, so the tin deposit is what shows displacement there. In acid the bubbling order is Mg greater than Zn greater than Fe greater than Sn, with copper inert. In air magnesium burns brightly; zinc melts and gathers an oxide that is yellow while hot and white when cold; iron glows red and darkens; tin melts into a bead that dulls with an oxide skin; copper blackens with copper(II) oxide. The series Mg greater than Zn greater than Fe greater than Sn greater than Cu matches the data-table order.

What changes

What you change: identity of the metal
What you measure: whether displacement, gas evolution or oxidation is observed and how fast
What you keep the same: solution concentration
metal surface area and cleaning
temperature
time allowed

Common misconceptions

Each of these ideas is wrong, and the activity is a chance to test it.

Copper is unreactive because it is a poor conductor (copper conducts well; its low activity reflects its high reduction potential).
A displacement reaction swaps the two metals' names in the formula (it swaps which metal is the ion in solution; charge and electrons must balance).
The most reactive metal is the one that fizzes most in water (sodium does, but the series here is built from all four tests together).

Curriculum references

The NSW syllabus outcomes and Australian Curriculum v9 codes this activity supports. They are references, not a verified or complete curriculum alignment.

Chemistry Stage 6 Syllabus (2017), NESA; the current syllabus, taught in 2026 (codes read from the syllabus document)CH11-10 CH11/12-2 CH11/12-3 CH11/12-4
Chemistry 11-12 Syllabus (2025), NESA; implemented from 2028, not yet taughtCH-11-03 CH-11WS-02 CH-11WS-03
Australian Curriculum v9No Australian Curriculum v9 code is listed.

Sources

The pages the author read to write this activity.

All Concept Studio activities