EXPERIMENT 7 :

SOME SIMPLE REDOX REACTIONS

NAME : NUR NAJIHA AWATIF BINTI YUSRI

STUDENT ID : 23039637
CLASS : HAMPTON
DATE : 25/10/2023
OBJECTIVE
The experiment was purposely done to illustrate some redox chemistry by
means of simple test-tube reactions between metals and salt solutions.

RESULTS

Types of metal Type of solutions Observations

strips

Silver Copper (II) nitrate No change occurs

Zinc nitrate No change occurs

copper Silver nitrate Black solid deposited

Zinc nitrate No change occurs

 Type of metal strip Type of solution observations

zinc Silver nitrate Black solid

deposited

Copper (II) nitrate Black solid

deposited and
colour of solution
turned from blue
to light blue

Table 1.0: observations on metal strips

DISCUSSION

The term ‘redox’ comes from oxidation and reduction reactions in a short
form. To be more specific, redox reaction means oxidation and reduction reactions
coincide simultaneously in any reaction. By this, any chemical reaction can be said to
undergo a redox reaction if only both oxidation and reduction occur. The definition of
the oxidation reaction is where a substance loses its electrons or hydrogen, or also it
could be when there is the increase in its oxidation number and oxygen. On the other
hand, reduction means that a substance gains electrons or hydrogen, and decrease in
its oxidation number or oxygen. There are various types of redox reactions such as
decomposition reactions, combination reactions, displacement reactions, and
disproportionation reactions. In this experiment, it involved displacement reactions
where metal presents in a compound would be displaced by another metal.
Furthermore, the substance that undergoes an oxidation reaction or is reduced in a
chemical reaction is called an oxidising agent whereas substances that undergo a
reduction reaction and are oxidized is known as reducing agent.
 Based on Table 1.0, there were three different metal strips were used in this
experiment which were tested with two different salt solutions out of three. For the
silver metal strip, when it was dispersed in both solution of copper (II) nitrate and zinc
nitrate separately, it could be seen that no changes were occurring towards the silver
strip and also towards both solutions. This was due to silver could not displace copper
in copper (II) nitrate solution and also zinc from zinc nitrate solution as silver is less
reactive than both copper and zinc in the reactivity series of metals. Thus, no redox
reactions occurred in both experiment as silver could not act as strong reducing agent
to oxidise copper (II) ion and zinc ion. It is advised to rub the silver strip with
sandpaper first before adding it into the solution in order to remove its oxide layer
formed on its surface.

The next metal strip was copper. When a copper strip was added to silver
nitrate solution, it could be seen that black solid formed surrounding the copper strip
on its surface. The black solid formed was silver. Thus, it is shown copper could
displace silver from its salt solution which was silver nitrate solution and formed
copper(II) ions instead. This could occur as copper located upper than silver in the
reactivity series of metals making copper is more reactive than silver. On the other
hand, no changes occurred on the copper strip after it was added into zinc nitrate
solution. This is because copper located far below zinc in the reactivity series of
metals which makes copper is less reactive than zinc and not a strong reducing agent
to oxidise zinc. Thus, copper could not displace zinc from its salt solution.

Half ionic equation for oxidation : Cu —> Cu2+ + 2e-

Half ionic equation for reduction : Ag+ + e- —> Ag

Overall ionic equation : Cu + 2Ag+ —> Cu2+ + 2Ag

The last metal strip used in this experiment was zinc strip. When a zinc strip
was immersed into copper ( II) sulphate, there was a kind of black with a little bit of
brown color of solid deposited on the zinc strip. Furthermore, the intensity of the blue
colour of copper (II) sulphate solution also can be seen decreased as it turned from
blue to light blue colour as copper(II) ions,Cu2+ was being oxidised forming copper
atom,Cu. So, it is clarified that the copper ions from copper (II) nitrate was being
displaced by zinc atom as zinc is more reactive than copper. The same thing also could
be observed when zinc strip was immersed in silver nitrate solution where it could be
seen that there was black solid formed surround the zinc strip. This is due to zinc that
is more reactive than silver which makes zinc atom could displace silver ion from its
salt solution, silver nitrate solution. These observations show that zinc is located upper
than both copper and silver in the reactivity series of metals which makes it a strong
reducing agent. However, before putting the zinc strip into the solutions, same like
silver strip, it was rubbed by sandpaper to remove its oxide layer, so that it could react
more effectively in the reaction and give more accurate results.

Half ionic equation for oxidation : Zn —> Zn2+ + 2e-

Half ionic equation for reduction : Cu2+ + 2e- —> Cu

Overall ionic equation : Zn + Cu2+ —> Zn2+ + Cu

Half ionic equation for reduction : Ag+ + e- —> Ag

Overall ionic equation : Zn + Ag+ —> Zn2+ + Ag

CONCLUSION
To conclude, the experiment was considered successful as the objectives of the
experiment has been fully achieved which was to illustrate some redox chemistry
using simple test-tube reactions between metals and salt solutions. From the
experiment also, it showed that zinc was the most reactive metal compared to silver
and copper.

QUESTIONS

1. Ionic equations :
i) Cu + 2AgNO3 —> Cu(NO3)2 + 2Ag
Cu + 2Ag+ + 2 NO3- —> Cu2+ + 2NO3- + 2Ag
Cu + 2Ag+ —> Cu2+ + 2Ag

ii) Zn + Cu(NO3)2 —> Zn(NO3)2 + Cu

Zn + Cu2+ + 2NO3- —> Zn2+ 2NO3- + Cu
Zn + Cu2+ —> Zn2+ + Cu

iii) Zn + 2AgNO3 —> Zn(NO3)2 + Ag

 Zn + 2Ag+ + 2NO3- —> Zn2+ + 2NO3- + Ag
Zn + 2Ag+ —> Zn2+ + Ag

2. i) 2Cu + Ag+ —> Cu2+ + Ag

● Cu undergoes oxidation reaction as its oxidation number increases from
0 to +2
● Ag+ undergoes reduction reaction as its oxidation number decreases from
+1 to 0
ii) Zn + Ag+ —> Zn2+ + Ag
● Zn undergoes oxidation reaction as its oxidation number increases from
0 to +2 to form Zn2+
● Ag+ undergoes reduction reaction as its oxidation number decreases
from +1 to 0 to form Ag
iii) Zn + Cu2+ —> Zn2+ + Cu
● Zn undergoes oxidation reaction as its oxidation number increases from
0 to +2 to form Zn2+
● Cu2+ undergoes reduction reaction as its oxidation number decreases
from +2 to 0 to form Cu

REFERENCES

1. https://byjus.com/jee/redox-reactions/. (2023, August 21). Redox reactions -

examples, types, applications, balancing. BYJUS.

2. https://chemistrytalk.org/redox-reactions/