Working out a reactivity series

You can work out a reactivity series for many substances by carrying out . The table below shows the results of reacting different metals with different salt solutions.

	Magnesium sulfate solution	Copper(II) sulfate solution	Iron(II) sulfate solution	Number of reactions
Magnesium	Not done	Brown coating	Black coating	2
Copper	No visible reaction	Not done	No visible reaction	0
Iron	No visible reaction	Brown coating	Not done	1

	Magnesium
Magnesium sulfate solution	Not done
Copper(II) sulfate solution	Brown coating
Iron(II) sulfate solution	Black coating
Number of reactions	2

	Copper
Magnesium sulfate solution	No visible reaction
Copper(II) sulfate solution	Not done
Iron(II) sulfate solution	No visible reaction
Number of reactions	0

	Iron
Magnesium sulfate solution	No visible reaction
Copper(II) sulfate solution	Brown coating
Iron(II) sulfate solution	Not done
Number of reactions	1

Magnesium is the most reactive metal from these three as it undergoes two reactions, iron is next and copper is the least reactive.

Displacement reactions as redox reactions

Here is the for the reaction between magnesium and copper(II) sulfate. The equation below shows the ions present on both sides of the equation:

Mg(s) + Cu²⁺(aq) + SO₄^2-(aq) → Mg²⁺(aq) + SO₄^2-(aq) + Cu(s)

Sulfate ions, SO₄^2- , appear on both sides of the equation because they do not take part in the reaction. The ionic equation for the reaction is written without sulfate ions:

Mg(s) + Cu²⁺(aq) → Mg²⁺(aq) + Cu(s)

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Metals and reactivity series - (CCEA)Working out a reactivity series