Chemical Concepts Demonstrated - Relative activity of metals -
Metal classification based on reactivity - Drop samples of
sodium, magnesium, aluminum, and iron metal into water. - Drop
samples of magnesium, aluminum, and iron metal into 6M HCl.
|sodium ||Highly reactive in water. || | Highly reactive in
acid. |magnesium ||No reaction in water at room temperature. ||
| Reacts rapidly in acid. |aluminum ||No reaction in water at
room temperature. || | |iron ||No reaction in water. || | Notice
the metals' locations in the periodic table. The most reactive
metals have the greatest tendency to lose electrons to form
positively charged ions. Metals, therefore, become more reactive
as they are located further to the left on the periodic table.
Based on the activities of the metals, the four metals can be
separated into three different categories: - Reactive in both
acid and water (i.e. high reactivity): sodium (and, by
extension, other alkali metals) - Reactive in acid, but not
water (i.e. moderate reactivity): magn