Chemistry - Reactivity Series

Order of reactions from most to least

• potassium

• sodium

• calcium

• magnesium

• carbon

• zinc

• iron

• lead

• hydrogen

• copper

• silver

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Obtaining metals below carbon

reduction with carbon

only metals that are less reactive than carbon can be reduced by carbon dioxide

eg. copper

2CuO(s) + C(s) → 2Cu(s) + CO2 (g) [through heat]

Obtaining very reactive metals

through electrolysis

Corrosion of metals

• presence of O2 and H2O

• also known as rusting

How to prevent rusting

barrier methods are used to provide a protective layer over object to keep o2 and h2o away from iron or steel

eg.

• painting

• greasing

• tin-plating

• coating with plastic

cold water vs steam

if metals have a rapid reaction to cold water, its reaction with steam will be explosive and dangerous.

Why some metals cannot be extracted with carbon

• metals high up in the reactivity series like Na, Mg form very stable oxides

• cannot be easily reduced by heating with carbon

• prefer to remain combined o2 in its oxide