Chemistry – Metals - Reactivity series | e-Consult

The student's observation is consistent with the reactivity series of metals. The reactivity series is a list of metals arranged in order of their reactivity, with the most reactive metal at the top and the least reactive at the bottom. A simplified reactivity series is:

Zinc can displace copper because zinc is higher up in the reactivity series than copper. This means that zinc has a greater tendency to lose electrons and form positive ions (Zn²⁺). When zinc is added to a solution of copper ions (Cu²⁺), the zinc ions (Zn²⁺) are reduced to zinc atoms (Zn), and the copper ions (Cu²⁺) are oxidized to copper atoms (Cu). The reaction proceeds because zinc is more reactive than copper, and therefore has a greater affinity for electrons. Silver is below zinc in the reactivity series, so zinc cannot displace silver from its solution. Silver is less likely to lose electrons than zinc, so it will not be displaced.