Potassium and Sodium

Cold Water

  • reacts explosively with cold water.
  • both potassium and sodium → dart around rapidly on water surface.
  • potassium burns with lilac flame and sodium burns with an orange flame

Potassium:

Sodium:

Steam Reactions are highly explosive. Should not be conducted in school laboratory

Dilute HCl

  • reactions are highly explosive. should not be conducted in school laboratory

Important

Reactions are explosive → as enough heat is given out → to cause hydrogen gas to catch on fire and explode. K and Na floats on water surface as density of first 3 group I elements are less than → which is less than density of water


Calcium

Cold Water

  • reacts rapidly with cold water
  • vigorous effervescence is observed.

Steam

  • reaction is highly explosive and should not be conducted in school laboratory

Dilute HCl

  • reacts violently with dilute HCl.

Important

calcium sinks in water → density is higher than → which is density of water


Magnesium

Cold Water

  • reacts very slowly with cold water

Steam

  • Hot magnesium reacts violently with steam.
  • bright white glow is observed during the reaction

Dilute HCl

  • Reacts rapidly with dilute HCl.
  • vigorous effervescence is observed


Zinc

Cold Water

  • no visible change → does not react with cold water

Steam

Dilute HCL

  • reacts moderately fast with dilute HCl
  • effervescence is observed

Important

zinc is reactive metal → which reacts readily with oxygen in air → to form zinc oxide. (forms a coating over zinc)

  • thus effervescence is not observed → immediately when zinc is mixed with HCl → as zinc is coated with layer of zinc oxide.
  • zinc oxide (base) will react with acid first Acids + Bases (Metal oxides and Metal hydroxides)to form solution of salt and water → before zinc can react with acid to form gas

Iron

Cold Water

  • no visible reaction → iron does not react with cold water

Steam

  • red hot iron → reacts slowly with steam → under continuous heating.

Dilute HCl

  • reacts slowly with dilute HCl
  • effervescence is still observed

Important

\^ Fe_3O_4 is a compound which contains both and ions and is sometimes formulated as


Lead

Cold Water, Steam, HCl

  • No visible change → does not react with either of these substances

Important

  • lead reacts very slowly with dilute hydrochloric acid. should react as it is more reactive than hydrogen (in the acid)
  • initial reaction produces insoluble layer of which coats lead and prevents lead from further reaction → with HCl.
  • thus reaction stops abruptly. Does not appear to have reacted with hydrochloric acid.
  • recall Salts Main Note

Copper, Silver, Gold, Platinum

  • no reaction with all 3; water, steam, HCl.

  • unreactive Metals