metal hydrogen produced? magnesium yes, rapid zinc yes iron yes, slow copper none The apparatus shows a heated tube where a metal powder is passed over by s...
Question 1 Report
| metal | hydrogen produced? |
|---|---|
| magnesium | yes, rapid |
| zinc | yes |
| iron | yes, slow |
| copper | none |
The apparatus shows a heated tube where a metal powder is passed over by steam and hydrogen is collected. The table records which metals gave hydrogen. Which metal in the table is the LEAST reactive?
Answer Details
Reaction with steam separates metals in the middle of the series from those at the bottom. A metal reacts with steam only if it is reactive enough to strip oxygen from water and release hydrogen, for example \( \text{Zn} + \text{H}_2\text{O} \rightarrow \text{ZnO} + \text{H}_2 \).
The table records hydrogen for magnesium rapidly, zinc readily and iron slowly, but none at all for copper. A metal that gives no hydrogen under the same heating and the same steam supply cannot reduce water, so copper is the least reactive of the four.
Iron is the tempting wrong answer because its result is labelled slow, but slow still means a reaction is happening. A blank result, not a small one, marks the bottom of the series.
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