Displacement Reactions:
A single-displacement reaction, also called single-replacement reaction, is a type of oxidation-reduction chemical reaction when an element or ion moves out of one compound and into another. (One element is replaced by another in a compound.) This is usually written as...
A + BC → AC + BThis will occur if A is more reactive than B.
A single displacement reaction example.A and B must be either:
In the activity or reactivity series, the metals with the highest propensity to donate their electrons to react are listed first, and the most unreactive metals are listed last. Therefore a metal higher on the list is able to displace anything on the list below it. The order of activity for metals is - sodium > lithium > calcium > magnesium > aluminium > zinc > iron > lead > copper > silver > gold.
A + BC → AC + BThis will occur if A is more reactive than B.
A single displacement reaction example.A and B must be either:
- different metals (hydrogen's behavior as a cation renders it as a metal here), in which case C represents an anion; or
- halogens, in which case C represents a cation.
- In either case, when AC and BC are aqueous compounds (which is usually the case), C is a spectator ion.
- A spectator ion is an ion that exists as a reactant and a product in a chemical equation. Spectator ions can be observed in the reaction of aqueous solutions of sodium chloride and copper(II) sulfate but does not affect the equilibrium:
2Na+(aq) + 2Cl−(aq) + Cu2+(aq) + SO42−(aq) → 2Na+(aq) + SO42−(aq) + CuCl2 (s) The Na+ and SO42− ions are spectator ions since they remain unchanged on both sides of the equation. They simply "watch" the other ions react, hence the name.
In the activity or reactivity series, the metals with the highest propensity to donate their electrons to react are listed first, and the most unreactive metals are listed last. Therefore a metal higher on the list is able to displace anything on the list below it. The order of activity for metals is - sodium > lithium > calcium > magnesium > aluminium > zinc > iron > lead > copper > silver > gold.