Determination Of The Periodic

Properties Of The Elements

Aims:
• To observe the reactions of several metals with water and acids.
• To prepare an activity series of the metals based on the observations from the
above reactions.

Apparatus:
Spatula, test tubes, 150 ml beaker

Materials:
Magnesium ribbon, Phenolphthalein indicator, 6M HCL, granular Aluminium, powdered
Carbon, Iron, Copper, Zinc, 6M HNO3 .

Procedure:
A. The Group 2A Elements: Alkaline Earth Metals-Magnesium and Calcium

1. A test tube is filled up with 5 ml of water and a few drops of phenolphthalein

indicator are added. Then a small piece of magnesium is scratched with a spatula
and placed inside the tube and the observations are recorded.
2. The same is then repeated with pieces of calcium and the observations are recorded.
3. 5 ml samples of 6M HCL is placed in two test tubes. Pieces of magnesium and
calcium are placed each separately into each test tube. Then inverted test tubes are
placed over each one and the gas from the reaction is collected and exposed to an
open flame. The observations is recorded.

B. The Group 3A Elements-Aluminium

Two 0.25 samples of granular aluminium are placed one, in a test tube containing water
and another in a 150 ml beaker containing 5 ml of 6M HCL. The observations are
recorded.

C. The group 4A Elements-Carbon

Two 0.25 samples of powdered carbon are placed, one in a test tube containing water and
another in a 150 ml beaker containing 5 ml of 6M HCL and the bottom of each tube is
tapped gently once and another time after 5 minutes. The observations are recorded.

D. The Transition Elements: -Iron, Copper and Zinc

1. Each metal: iron (steel wool), copper and zinc are placed separately in a test tube
filled with water and tapped. The observations are recorded.
2. The above is repeated with 2 ml of 6M HCL and a sample of each metal. The
observations are recorded.
3. The experiment is repeated a third time with 2 ml of 6M HNO3 and a sample of
each metal. The observations are recorded.

Results:
A. Group 2A Elements

Part 1. Reactions With Water:

Metal Observations Net Ionic Equations

Mg Bubbles of gas are observed and Mg2+ + 2 (OH)1- MgOH2
Phenolphthalein indicator
changes from colourless to pink.
Ca Bubbles of gas are observed and Ca2+ + 2 (OH)1- CaOH2
Phenolphthalein indicator
changes from colourless to pink.

Part 2. Reactions with HCL:

Metal Observation Net ionic equation

Mg Bubbles of gas are produced. Mg2+ + 2Cl1- MgCl2

When exposed to a lighted flint
no sound is heard.
Ca More violent reaction than with Ca2+ + 2Cl1- CaCl2
magnesium. Bubbles produced
and a pop is heard when exposed
with lighted flint.

B. Reactions with 3A Elements

Metal Observation Net ionic equations

 Al + No reaction visible. 2Al2+ + 3O2- Al2O3
Water
Al + Bubbles of a gas are produced. 2Al3+ + 6Cl2- 2AlCl3
Acid

C. The Group 3A Elements

Element Observation Net ionic equation

Carbon + No reaction, Water is N.R
water blackened and Carbon sinks
to the bottom
Carbon + No reaction, blackened acid, N.R
acid Carbon sinks to the bottom

D. The Transition Elements

Reaction with water:

Metal Observation Net Ionic Equation

+2 2-
Iron No reaction visible Fe + (O) 2FeO
Copper No reaction visible Zn+2 + (O)2- 2ZnO
Zinc No reaction visible Cu+2 + (O)2- 2CuO

Reactions with HCL:

Metal Observation Net Ionic Equation

Iron Tiny bubbles of gas can be Fe + 2Cl1-
2+
FeCl2
observed. The HCL turns color to
yellow. The iron turns yellow. Its a
very mild exothermic reaction.
Copper No reaction visible Cu2+ + 2Cl1- CuCl2
Zinc Bubbles are visible and a pop is Zn2+ + 2Cl1- ZnCl2
heard when exposed to a lighted
splint. A more violent reaction than
with Iron and is exothermic (hot).

Reactions with HNO3:

Metal Observation Net Ionic Equation

 Iron Bubbles of gas are visible, a violent Fe2+ + 2NO3 Fe(NO3)2
reaction takes place and the acid turns
yellow. This is an exothermic
reaction.
Copper Bubbles of gas are visible. A less Cu2+ + 2NO3 Cu(NO3)2
violent reaction takes place; mild
exothermic reaction; acid turns blue
and a small amount of a brown gas is
produced.
Zinc Bubbles of a gas are observed. Zn2+ + 2NO3 Zn(NO3)2
Vigorous reaction; a lot of energy
released as heat and acid turns dark
yellow.

Discussion:
Part A:

Metal + Water gives salt (metal oxide) and Hydrogen. When the Magnesium is
reacted with the water it gives of Magnesium Oxide and bubbles of gas can be observed
which when exposed to a lighted splint produce a popping sound. This indicates the gas is
Hydrogen. The same stands true with Calcium which means the experiment supports the
theory and there where no impurities involved. Therefore this particular section of the
experiment was successful.
Metal + Acid gives salt and Hydrogen. When the Magnesium is reacted with the HCL
a reaction is observed and bubbles of gas are formed. Its exothermic and supports theory.
The gas though didn't burn with a pop when exposed to flame. This could be for certain
reasons. There could have been some contamination due to unclean equipment or the gas
escaped due to the vigorous reaction and not enough gas was collected. The same holds
true for the Calcium.

Part B:

Normally metal with water produces base and Hydrogen. In this case a transition
element is involved and as aluminium is very reactive it oxidized in air and forms a
galvanised layer. When Aluminium is added to water no reaction is visible.
The second procedure proves theory as bubbles of gas are visible indicating that a
reaction is taking place. This means Aluminium + Acid gives salt and Hydrogen.
Part C:

When Carbon is placed in water no reaction is visible. This is because Carbon is less
reactive than most elements and so theory holds true and the carbon doesn't react.
The same happens when carbon is added to acid.

Part D.

When the metals are added to water no reaction is visible that is because both
Magnesium and Zinc are too reactive and have reacted with the oxygen in the air to form
a protective oxide shell.

A reaction takes place though when the metals are added to HCL acid. Iron reacts
and bubbles can be seen to indicate gas given off. The gas exposed to a naked flame
burns with a popping sound indicating that it is Hydrogen. This satisfies the equation
Metal + Acid gives Salt + Hydrogen.

No reaction takes place between the HCL and the Copper as Copper is a very non
reactive element. This places Copper below the Iron in the reactivity series.

The reaction with HCL and Zinc is similar to the one with Iron except the reaction is
more vigorous and the heat given off is even more. There is no popping sound when the
gas collected is exposed to a flame. This could be a systematic error; not enough gas
collected as the reaction was to fast.

When the Iron is added to the Nitric acid it is a violent reaction and the acid turns
yellow. Gas is given off so the experiment here supports the theory.

Copper is added to Nitric acid, a reaction is visible and brown gas is given off. It
supports theory as a salt and Nitrogen Mono Oxide gas is given off.

Zinc with Nitric acid reacts vigorously and gives off a lot of heat meaning its an
exothermic reaction. The acid turns a dark yellow.

Conclusion:
Part A:

The results obtained must help to determine which element is more reactive by comparing the
energy released during the reaction. When acid was used the calcium showed a slightly more
violent reaction, this indicates that calcium is more reactive than magnesium.
Part B:

Aluminum produced no reaction with water and reacted with the acid to form aluminum
chloride. This result is compared to the results of the previous experiment. Both group 2
elements magnesium and calcium are more reactive than aluminum so aluminum is under both
elements in the series.

Part C:

This experiment shouldn’t be used to determine properties and the reactivity of carbon as
carbon is a non metal and will not produce ionic substances with acid and water. However CO2
or CO may be tested to see if they are able to displace hydrogen from water, thus giving us a
clue on hydrogen’s reactivity.

Part D:

In this experiment the three transition elements were reacted with water and two acids (HCl
& HNO3 ). In the first part all three wouldn’t react with the water. In the second part, iron
chloride and bubbles of hydrogen gas were formed in a reaction that released a small amount of
energy which kept the test tube warm. Copper did not react with the hydrochloric acid. The
zinc produced the most violent reactions of three transition elements and released a large
amount of energy. When all three were placed in the nitric acid, the zinc again produced the
most vigorous reaction. Copper reacted with acid to form a blue substance ( copper (2) nitrate)
and a brown gas (nitrogen dioxide) in a non violent reaction. The iron reacted violently with the
acid to produce a yellow solution of iron chloride. All three produced bubbles of hydrogen gas.
So zinc is the most reactive of the three transitions elements followed by iron then copper which
is the least reactive.

Based on these results we can now construct a list containing all the elements and place them
in descending order from most reactive to least reactive.