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Another redox reaction took place when magnesium ribbon was added to an aqueous copper(II) sulfate solution - Leaving Cert Chemistry - Question 26 - 2022
Question 26
Another redox reaction took place when magnesium ribbon was added to an aqueous copper(II) sulfate solution. This reaction is described by the balanced equation: Mg... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Another redox reaction took place when magnesium ribbon was added to an aqueous copper(II) sulfate solution - Leaving Cert Chemistry - Question 26 - 2022
Step 1
What was observed during this displacement reaction?
Answer
In this displacement reaction, several observations can be made:
- The blue color of the solution, due to copper ions (Cu^{2+}) and copper(II) sulfate (CuSO_4), disappears as copper ions are reduced to elemental copper.
- The magnesium ribbon (Mg) dissolves and appears to disappear, indicating that it is oxidizing.
- Brown flecks of copper solid appear in the solution as it precipitates out.
Step 2
Step 3
Would you expect the following displacement reaction to occur when copper metal is added to a sodium chloride solution? Explain your answer.
Answer
No, I would not expect this displacement reaction to occur.
This is because sodium is higher up in the electrochemical series compared to copper. Sodium is more easily oxidized (and therefore more reactive) than copper. When copper is placed in sodium chloride solution, the solid copper cannot displace sodium ions (Na^{+}) from the solution, as copper does not have the ability to oxidize sodium.