Unit Chemical reactions

MYP year level 5

Metals and water
The Romans used lead to make water pipes but didnt
know that lead reacts slowly with water and makes it
poisonous!
Some metals react vigorously with water, some metals
react slowly and some do not react at all.
Which is the best type of metal to use for water pipes?
Using unreactive
metals
The words plumber and plumbing come
from plumbum (the Latin word for lead)
because the ancient Romans used lead for
their water pipes.
Why is lead no longer used in
plumbing?
Copper is a much better metal for water
pipes because it does not react at all with
water perhaps plumbers should be
renamed coppers!
Read it please
Metal elements are rarely found in the ground in their
pure form. Thats because most of them react so easily
with other substances in the ground and in the air.
Potassium and sodium are among the most reactive
metal elements.
Gold and silver are among the most unreactive metal
elements. Thats why they can sometimes be found in
their pure, or almost pure, form.
Thinking time
Group 1 metal elements, like potassium, lithium and
sodium, are so reactive that they have to be stored
under oil to stop them from reacting with substances
in the air.
Why are they so reactive?
Lithium, sodium
and potassium are stored
under oil so that they cant
react with the air. These
substances react quickly
and explosively when in
contact with water in the
air.
Reacting metals with water
When any metal reacts with
water, the products are a metal
hydroxide and hydrogen gas.
What tests could you do to show that hydrogen and a hydroxide have been
produced?
metal water metal hydroxide hydrogen
+

+
This is the general equation for
the reaction of a metal with
water:
Equations: reactions of metals with water
What is the balanced symbol equation for each reaction?
2Na 2H
2
O 2NaOH H
2
+

+
sodium water
sodium
hydroxide
hydrogen
+

+
2Li 2H
2
O 2LiOH H
2
+

+
+
water
lithium
hydroxide
hydrogen lithium
+
2K 2H
2
O 2KOH H
2
+

+
potassium water
potassium
hydroxide
hydrogen
+

+
Now
Although less reactive metals do not pose an
immediate danger, they can still cause problems
Can you think of any!!!!

Corrosion of metals
Metals corrode when they are left in contact
with air or water.
Which metals corrode quickly and which
corrode slowly?
When iron corrodes, it is called rusting.
Rusting is the oxidation reaction of iron with oxygen in
the presence of water.
oxygen iron oxide iron
+

3O
2
Fe
2
O
3
2Fe
+

Does salt make iron rust faster?
People who live by the seaside often claim that their cars go rusty faster.
Does salt speed up the rate of the rusting reaction?
What is needed for iron to rust?
Preventing rust
Rusting destroys a huge amount of iron and steel every day.
People spend a lot of money making sure that their iron and steel buildings,
engines, lorries and ships do not rust.
What methods could you use to prevent things rusting?
painting
plastic coating
oiling galvanising
Rusting: sacrificial protection
Sacrificial protection is another way of preventing rust.
This involves attaching big blocks of
magnesium or zinc to the iron hull of a ship or
water pipe.
Because magnesium is more
reactive than iron, it corrodes
first, leaving the iron intact.
Eventually the magnesium blocks
have to be replaced because they
have corroded completely away. iron
reactive
metal
Equations: reactions of metals with oxygen
What is the balanced symbol equation for each reaction?
4Fe O
2
2Fe
2
O
3
+

iron oxygen iron oxide
+

2Cu O
2
2CuO
+

+
oxygen copper oxide copper
2Mg O
2
2MgO
+

magnesium oxygen magnesium oxide
+

Cars, boats and bridges (in fact all objects made of iron)
corrode (rust). Protecting iron objects from corrosion
is an important process, but can cost industry and
communities lots of money.
Sliver very low reactivity
Silver is often found in its pure form because it does
not react with other substances very easily. But even
silver eventually tarnishes after reacting with
substances in the air
Reaction of metal with Acid
The reactivity of metals can be investigated by
observing the chemical reactions of metals with acids.
A chemical reaction between a metal element and an
acid can be described by the equation:
metal + acid a salt + hydrogen gas
Click here
Now here
Salt
A salt is a solid compound formed by the bonding of a
positively charged metal ion and a negatively charged
ion.
When an acid reacts with a metal, electrons move from
the metal to the hydrogen in the acid. The result is
positively charged metal ions, hydrogen gas and
negatively charged non-metal ions. The ions bond
together to form the salt.
When magnesium reacts with hydrochloric acid, the
reaction is described by the equation:

Magnesium + hydrochloric acid magnesium chloride + hydrogen gas
That is:
Mg(s) 2HCl(aq) MgCl
2
(aq) H
2
(g).
Metals and hydrochloric acid equations
What is the balanced symbol equation for each reaction?
hydrochloric
acid
magnesium
chloride
magnesium hydrogen
+

+
Mg 2HCl MgCl
2
H
2
+

+
aluminium hydrochloric
acid
aluminium
chloride
hydrogen
+

+
2Al 6HCl 2AlCl
3
3H
2
+

+
zinc hydrochloric
acid
zinc
chloride
hydrogen
+

+
Zn 2HCl ZnCl
2
H
2
+

+
Reactivity Series
Watch this video
This list is called the
reactivity series.
The more reactive the metal,
the more vigorous the
reaction.
Metals can be listed in order of how
reactive they are.
A metal that is below hydrogen
will not react with dilute acids.
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Reactivity of metals
calcium
sodium
copper
hydrogen
lead
iron
zinc
aluminium
magnesium
Using the reactivity series
The reactivity series can be used to make predictions about the reactions of metals.
Predictions can be made about
simple reactions of metals with
oxygen, water and acids.
Predictions can also be made about
more complex reactions where one
metal is competing with another.
potassium
sodium
calcium
magnesium
aluminium
zinc
iron
lead
copper
silver
gold
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oxygen in the
atmosphere
coating of oxygen
atoms
aluminium
atoms
Aluminium
According to the reactivity series, aluminium should be a fairly reactive metal, but in
reality it often appears unreactive. Why?
This is because a protective layer of aluminium oxide quickly forms on its surface,
which stops it reacting. This means aluminium can be used to build aeroplanes and
saucepans.
However, if the
protective layer is
removed, the
aluminium reacts more
quickly.
The reactivity series: summary
What is a displacement reaction?
The Thermit reaction is an example of a
displacement reaction.
The more reactive aluminium takes the oxygen from the less reactive iron.
The reaction gets so hot that the iron melts! It is used to weld railway tracks.
aluminium
iron oxide
iron
+

aluminium oxide
+
In this reaction, aluminium reacts with iron oxide
to make aluminium oxide and iron.
Displacement in action
What happens when magnesium reacts with
copper sulfate?
magnesium
copper
sulfate
copper
+

magnesium
sulfate +
Magnesium is a more reactive metal than copper and so the magnesium displaces the
copper from the copper sulfate solution. This is why the blue colour disappears.
Why does the blue colour of the copper sulfate
solution gradually disappear during this
reaction?
before after
Watch the video
Explaining displacement reactions
The reactivity series can be used to predict if a metal will react with a metal compound.
If the metal is more reactive than the metal in the compound, it pushes out, or
displaces, the less reactive metal from its compound.
If the metal is less reactive than the metal in the compound, it will not compete and
so there is no reaction.
more
reactive
metal
less
reactive metal
compound
more
reactive metal
compound
less reactive
metal
+

+
less reactive metal more reactive metal
compound
no reaction
+

Displacement reactions examples
Will magnesium react with copper chloride?
Magnesium is a more reactive metal than copper, so magnesium displaces the
copper from its compound.
Will silver react with magnesium chloride?
Silver is a less reactive metal than magnesium, so silver does not displace the
magnesium from its compound.
magnesium
copper
chloride
copper
+

magnesium
chloride +
magnesium
chloride +
no reaction silver
Displacement in extracting metals
Displacement reactions can be used to
extract metals from their ores.
For example, iron and copper are
extracted from their oxides by
reacting the ores with carbon:
iron oxide carbon carbon dioxide iron
+

+
copper oxide carbon carbon dioxide copper
+

+
Displacement reactions activity
Displacement reactions
Use the reactivity series to predict if each mixture will react and complete the word
equation.
magnesium
aluminium
oxide +

magnesium
oxide
aluminium
+
iron
chloride
magnesium
+

magnesium
chloride
iron
+
copper gold nitrate
+

copper
nitrate
gold
+
silver zinc oxide no reaction
+