Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to investigate the reliability of the activity series of metals by testing in solution, confirming if the activity series was correct with its predictions.

Hypothesis: It is predicted that the metals in solid form will displace metals in solution if located higher over the other within the activity series chart.

Materials:
10 test tubes
Test tube holder

Metals in Solid Form
1. Aluminum
2. Iron
3. Zinc
4. Magnesium
5. Zinc
6. Aluminum
7. Copper
8. Tin
9. Lead
10. Iron

Metals in Solution
1. CuCl2
2. MgCl2
3. Pb(NO3)2
4. Ni(NO3)2
5. Ca(NO3)2
6. SnCl2
7. Ag(NO3)
8. Pb(NO3)2
9. ZnCl2
10. Cu(SO4)

Observations & Analysis:
Metals & Solutions Prior to ReactionPost ReactionAnalysis Aluminum & Copper (II) Chloride
-Blue translucent liquid
-Small silver ball
-Grew ten times original size
-Rust Color
-Clear transparent liquidA buildup of residue formed and the clear solution became cloudy with flaky matter.

Iron & Magnesium Chloride-Clear transparent liquid
-Silver nail- No Reaction

-No reaction
Zinc & Lead (II) Nitrate-Clear transparent liquid
-Silver clump-Black and shiny

Black powdery crystals formed within the solution and around the Zinc. Magnesium & Nickel Nitrate-Green liquid
-Silver shiny strip of magnesium
-Floats-Bubbles
-Solution Green
-Silver strip of Magnesium
-FloatsThe strip of Magnesium floated and oxidized within the solution. Bubbles formed and the solution colored but more blue than green. Zinc & Calcium Nitrate-Clear transparent liquid
-Silver ball-Flattened
-Bubbled
-Still solidThe Zinc flattened out and bubbled as it oxidized. It still remained a solid but it broke down in solution. Aluminum & Tin (II) Chloride

-Foggy liquid
-Silver shiny Aluminum foil
-Malleable
-Black Flakes
-Dissolves

The Aluminum started to melt and break down into black flakes and sink to the bottom. The solution remained foggy with loose particles floating around from the dissolving Aluminum. Copper & Silver Nitrate

-Clear transparent liquid
-Shiny orange Copper-Broke down, melting
-Color did not changeThe copper dissolved into pieces and sunk to the bottom of the test tube. The color did not change. The copper broke into mush. Tin & Lead Nitrate

-Clear transparent solution
-Tin foil shiny-Stayed the same-Stayed the same
Lead & Zinc Chloride

-3 black balls
-Clear transparent liquid-Residue
-No color change A black moldy mushy substance formed over the 3 Lead balls that were positioned at the bottom of the test tube. Iron & Copper Sulfate

-Blue translucent liquid
-Silver nail-Turned black (Nail)The nail formed a black, crystalized substance all around it. The substance looked sharp, solid, and shiny.

Activity Series of Metals:
This Chart states the Metals that can be used in a compound. The Activity Series of Metals displays whether or not a metal will displace another in a reaction. In most cases, If the metal in the reaction that in the beginning is single, and if it is higher on the Activity Series than the metal already placed in compound, that metal will displace the metal in compound during this reaction if carried out properly.

Discussion: The findings of this lab are soley based off of the purpose and
hypothesis, explaining that, certain metals were expected to react with certain metallic solutions according to the Activity Series chart. Along with this, testing the reliability of the Activity Series so it could be noted whether or not it should be used in every day metallic reaction experiments. The findings were for the most part true to the hypothesis (It is predicted that the metals in solid form will displace metals in solution if located higher over the other within the activity series chart.) The anomalies of this lab’s experiments included, Lead & Zinc Chloride and Zinc & Calcium Nitrate. These were considered by the lab group as anomalies because of the nature of them not following the Activity Series of Metals chart. According to the chart, these metals solid form an in solution were not valid to react with each other because Lead sits under Zinc, and Zinc sits under Calcium. With future experiments the lab group has come to realize the reason for these anomalies could be due to a contamination of the metals before put into metallic solution that they were chosen to test with. As well, the amount of people crowded around one lab bench could have slightly altered the results as everyone was not paying attention to the experiments fully and what was supposed to be going on. Next time, while doing a lab the lab group will take these reasons for possible altered results against the Activity Series, and use them for a better test outcome and to contain a good environment for a chemical reaction. ( ex. Too many people around touching things with unclean hands causing fault in experimental results and contamination in materials. Results& Conclusion: The results of the lab were that the Activity Series chart was for the majority of tests, proven to be reliable. All tests carried out to react when they were supposed to except for two instances, Zinc & Calcium Nitrate and Lead & Zinc Chloride. The Activity Series chart looks to be a good way to test your findings and should be continued in use with future experiments.