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🥇Metal Activity Series - Displacement Reaction Predictor, Equations, Mixtures and Electrode Potentials

The activity (reactivity) series used in school chemistry is K > Ca > Na > Mg > Al > Zn > Fe > Sn > Pb > (H) > Cu > Hg > Ag > Pt > Au. Two rules follow from it. Metals above hydrogen displace hydrogen from dilute HCl or H₂SO₄ — Fe + 2HCl → FeCl₂ + H₂↑ (iron gives Fe²⁺, never FeCl₃) and 2Al + 6HCl → 2AlCl₃ + 3H₂↑ — while silver and copper do not react. A metal displaces any metal below it from a soluble salt: Zn + CuSO₄ → ZnSO₄ + Cu and Cu + 2AgNO₃ → Cu(NO₃)₂ + 2Ag, but copper in FeSO₄ shows no change. Potassium, calcium and sodium are the exception: they react with the water first, so sodium dropped into copper sulfate gives blue Cu(OH)₂ and hydrogen, not copper. Choose any of 14 metals and dilute HCl, dilute H₂SO₄, water, CuSO₄, AgNO₃, FeSO₄, ZnSO₄, MgCl₂, concentrated or dilute HNO₃ or concentrated H₂SO₄ to get the verdict, the balanced molecular and ionic equations, the observation and the reason, including special cases such as aluminium's oxide film, passivation of Fe and Al in concentrated acids, the insoluble PbSO₄ layer on lead and why oxidizing acids never release H₂. The tool also has a full reaction table, a bar chart linking the series to standard reduction potentials E°, a generator for comparison experiments (two metals with one salt, one metal with two salts, rates with dilute acid) and a mixture simulator: add zinc to a mixture of AgNO₃ and Cu(NO₃)₂ and Ag⁺ is displaced first; drag the amount of zinc to see the residue, the filtrate ions and every possible case.

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How to use Metal Activity Series

  1. 1Tap a metal on the series strip and choose an acid, water or a salt solution
  2. 2Read the verdict, equations, observation and reason, or open the reaction table to see every combination
  3. 3Use Experiment design to compare three metals, or Mixtures to set metals and solutes and drag the slider to analyse residue and filtrate

FAQ

What is the activity series of metals?
It ranks metals by how readily they lose electrons in aqueous reactions: K, Ca, Na, Mg, Al, Zn, Fe, Sn, Pb, (H), Cu, Hg, Ag, Pt, Au. A metal higher in the series displaces hydrogen from dilute acids if it is above H, and displaces any lower metal from a solution of its salt. The order closely follows the standard reduction potentials E°(Mⁿ⁺/M), from −2.93 V for potassium to +1.50 V for gold.
Why doesn't sodium displace copper from copper sulfate solution?
Sodium reacts with the water before it can meet the copper ions: 2Na + 2H₂O → 2NaOH + H₂↑. The sodium hydroxide then precipitates copper(II) hydroxide: 2NaOH + CuSO₄ → Cu(OH)₂↓ + Na₂SO₄. Overall 2Na + 2H₂O + CuSO₄ → Cu(OH)₂↓ + Na₂SO₄ + H₂↑ — you see fizzing and a blue precipitate, but no copper metal.
If zinc is added to a mixture of silver nitrate and copper nitrate, which metal is displaced first?
Silver. Zinc reacts first with the ion of the least reactive metal (the pair furthest apart in the series reacts first), so Ag⁺ is reduced completely before any Cu²⁺. With a little zinc the residue is only Ag and the filtrate still contains Zn²⁺, Cu²⁺ and Ag⁺; with more zinc the residue is Ag and Cu; with excess zinc it is Ag, Cu and Zn and the filtrate contains only Zn²⁺. Bubbles when the residue is treated with dilute HCl show that zinc was in excess.
Copper is below hydrogen, so why does it dissolve in nitric acid?
In dilute HCl or H₂SO₄ the oxidant is H⁺, which only metals above hydrogen can reduce. Nitric acid and hot concentrated sulfuric acid are oxidizing acids: nitrogen(+5) or sulfur(+6) is the oxidant, which is far stronger, so copper and silver dissolve and no hydrogen is formed — Cu + 4HNO₃(conc.) → Cu(NO₃)₂ + 2NO₂↑ + 2H₂O, 3Cu + 8HNO₃(dil.) → 3Cu(NO₃)₂ + 2NO↑ + 4H₂O and Cu + 2H₂SO₄(conc.) → CuSO₄ + SO₂↑ + 2H₂O on heating. Iron and aluminium are passivated by the concentrated acids at room temperature.

Features

  • The full series K to Au with hydrogen and the Chinese mnemonic
  • Predictions for dilute acids, water, five salt solutions, conc./dilute HNO₃ and conc. H₂SO₄
  • Balanced molecular and ionic equations; iron correctly forms Fe²⁺
  • Special cases: K/Ca/Na react with water first, oxide film on Al, passivation, PbSO₄ coating, oxidizing acids
  • Clickable reaction table of all combinations
  • Standard reduction potential bar chart and data table (CRC values)
  • Automatic comparison-experiment designs for any three metals
  • Mixture simulator: order of displacement, residue, filtrate, mass change, case table and plot