Displacement reactions Flashcards
how do alkali metals react
reacts explosively with air and water
how do alkaline earth metals react
react vigorously with heated water
how do transition metals react
oxidises slowly with water to form rust
Losing electrons
- reactivity of a metal is explained by how easily they lose electrons
Displacement reactions
the solid metal (more reactive) is more forceful about giving away valence electrons, these are accepted by anions in the solution
Extracting metals
the process of removing the metal from its ore
(by giving electrons to a metal ion to return it to its solid form)
Native metals examples
- silver
- gold
- platinum
Extraction with carbon
carbon removes the oxygen from the metal ore, forming carbon dioxide and the pure form of the metal
Extraction with electrolysis
an electrical current is passed through a molten form of the ore, resulting in the extraction of the pure form of the metal
how can you see how reactive a metal atom is?
the more readily a metal atom loses its valence electron, the more reactive it is
what metals can be extracted with carbon
metals below carbon
what metals are extracted with electrolysis
metals above carbon can be extracted with electrolysis
where are native metals on the activity series
at the bottom of the activity series
how reactive are native metals
least reactive
(can exist in their pure and solid form in nature)
how hard is it to extract a reactive metal
the more reactive a metal is, the harder it is to extract
when can displacement reactions occur
- the solid can displace the solution if it is more reactive
- only occurs if the solid and the solution are different metals
what happens in a displacement reaction
solid metal will become a cation (solution) and the cation will become a solid metal
