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Contents
Activity series of metals
Metals are listed in decreasing ease of oxidation, or increasing ease of reduction. A metal can replace metals listed below it in the activity series, but not above. For example, sodium is highly active and thus able to replace hydrogen from water:
- 2 Na (s) + 2 H2O (l) -> 2 NaOH (aq) + H2 (g)
Metals that can replace hydrogen within acids but not water are listed in the middle of the activity series, for example zinc replaces hydrogen in sulfuric acid:
- Zn (s) + H2SO4 (aq) -> ZnSO4[?] (aq) + H2 (g)
The activity series has applications in electrochemistry, where two dissimilar metals are chosen as electrodes of a battery.
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