Metal Reactivity Challenge
Rank the metals from most reactive to least.
What this lesson covers
Why it matters
Drop potassium into water and it bursts into lilac flame; drop in copper and nothing stirs. Metals line up in a 'reactivity series', from wildly eager to utterly lazy.
Predict first
Which of these metals reacts most violently with water?
The reactivity series ranks metals by how eagerly they react: Potassium > Sodium > Calcium > Magnesium > Zinc > Iron > Copper. The top metals react even with cold water; the bottom ones barely react at all.
- Potassium — correct
- Copper
- Gold
What you do
Arrange these metals from most reactive (top) to least reactive (bottom).
Check yourself
Which is more reactive — zinc or copper?
Zinc sits above copper in the series, so zinc is the more reactive of the two.
Why can iron displace copper from copper sulphate, but copper can't displace iron?
A more reactive metal displaces a less reactive one from its salt — and iron is above copper.
A metal near the top of the reactivity series…
Top metals like potassium and sodium react violently, even with cold water.
- Zinc — correct
- Copper
- They are equally reactive
- Iron is more reactive than copper — correct
- Copper is heavier than iron
- Iron is magnetic
- reacts vigorously, even with cold water — correct
- never reacts with anything
- is always a gas