Reactivity Series Experiment: Chemical Reactions with Observations Explained

The reactivity series experiment shows metals arranged from most reactive to least reactive based on how easily they lose electrons and react with substances like water and acids. The aim of this article is to help students understand this concept through a simple experiment, allowing them to observe metal reactions in real time. 

This makes chemistry concepts clear and builds practical lab skills,and connects theory with hands-on learning in an interactive way.

Table of Content 

• What is the Reactivity Series
• Reactivity Series Experiment

What is the reactivity series?

The reactivity series is a list of metals arranged from the most reactive to the least reactive. It helps predict how metals will react with water, acids, and other chemicals, making it an essential tool in chemistry for both practical experiments and real-life applications.

The reactivity of metals can be compared by observing how they displace one another from their salt solutions; that is a more reactive metal displaces a less reactive metal from salt solution. Such reactions are called displacement reactions.

Also,Students can also refer to learn more about the concept of reactivity series in detail.

Let's Understand how it works.

Aluminium

Aluminium can displace zinc, iron, and copper from their respective salt solutions, showing that it is highly reactive.

2Al(s)+3ZnSO4(aq)→Al2(SO4)3+3Zn(s)

2Al(s)+3FeSO4(aq)→Al2(SO4)3+3Fe(s)

2Al(s)+3CuSO4(aq)→Al2(SO4)3+3Cu(s)

Zinc

Zinc can displace iron and copper, but not aluminium or itself. This means zinc is more reactive than iron and copper but less reactive than aluminium.

Zn(s)+CuSO4(aq)→ZnSO4(aq)+Cu(s)

Zn(s)+FeSO4(aq)→ZnSO4(aq)+Fe(s)

Iron

Iron can displace copper from its salt solution, but not aluminium, zinc, or itself, showing it is less reactive than those metals.

Fe(s)+CuSO4(aq)→FeSO4(aq)+Cu(s)

No reaction occurs when iron is added to FeSO4, ZnSO4, or Al2(SO4)3

 

Copper

Copper does not displace any metal from its solution, indicating it is the least reactive of all.

Reactivity Order

From all the reactions, the decreasing order of reactivity is:

Al>Zn>Fe>Cu

Lets look have the peek about the Colours of Metals and Their Salts

Compound Name	Formula	Colour
Aluminium sulphate	Al2(SO4)3	Colourless
Copper sulphate	CuSO4	Blue
Zinc sulphate	ZnSO4	Colourless
Ferrous sulphate	FeSO4	Light green
Copper (metal)	Cu	Reddish brown
Aluminium (metal)	Al	White
Zinc (metal)	Zn	Silver white
Iron (metal)	Fe	Blackish grey

Now let's understand the Reactivity Series Experiment!!

Reactivity Series Experiment 

Objective: To observe the reactivity of metals by performing displacement reactions.

Experimental Setup:

Materials Needed

• Metal strips: Aluminium (Al), Zinc (Zn), Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu)
• Solutions: ZnSO₄, FeSO₄, CuSO₄, Al₂(SO₄)₃ (5% concentration)
• Beakers and test tubes, distilled water, sandpaper, test tube stand

The Followed Procedure:

1. Wash and dry four beakers and label them  A: ZnSO4,B: FeSO4,  C: CuSO4,  D: Al2(SO4)3
2. Pour 50 mL of each metal sulfate solution into the respective beakers.
3. Wash and dry four test tubes, label them A, B, C, D, and add 10 mL of the corresponding solutions.
4. Clean the metal strips with sandpaper.
5. Dip each metal strip into all four test tubes one by one and observe any color change or metal deposition.

Here Below is the Observations:

Metal	Dipped in	Observation
Al	ZnSO₄	The solution remains unchanged. Greyish zinc metal accumulates on the aluminium strip.
Al	CuSO₄	The blue solution turns colourless. Reddish brown copper metal accumulates on the aluminium strip.
Al	Al₂(SO₄)₃	No change is observed.
Al	FeSO₄	The green solution turns colourless. Greyish black iron metal accumulates on the aluminium strip.
Fe	ZnSO₄	No change is observed.
Fe	CuSO₄	The solution turns light green. Reddish brown copper metal accumulates on the iron strip.
Fe	Al₂(SO₄)₃	No change is observed.
Fe	FeSO₄	No change is observed.
Zn	ZnSO₄	No change is observed.
Zn	CuSO₄	The blue solution turns colourless. Reddish brown copper metal accumulates on the zinc strip.
Zn	Al₂(SO₄)₃	No change is observed.
Zn	FeSO₄	The light green solution turns colourless. Greyish black iron metal accumulates on the zinc strip.
Cu	ZnSO₄	No change is observed.
Cu	CuSO₄	No change is observed.
Cu	Al₂(SO₄)₃	No change is observed.
Cu	FeSO₄	No change is observed.

The Final result that was observed was:

• Aluminium displaces Zn, Cu, Fe → most reactive.
• Zinc displaces Cu, Fe → more reactive than Cu and Fe.
• Iron displaces Cu → less reactive than Al and Zn.
• Copper does not displace any metal → least reactive.

Reactivity Order:

Al > Zn > Fe > Cu