Letter About Relationship Between Copper and Zinc

Dear grandma,

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I received your enquiries about the article you stumbled upon, "Reactivity of copper and zinc". I, therefore, took some time and decided to write you this article which I believe will come in handy in your quest to understand what the piece was trying to explain. I hope you like it.

Having a neatly arranged workshop helps the user to carry out his activities smoothly and efficiently without any hindrances. This is because the user knows where all the tools are in case he needs to any of them. In chemistry, we deal with some elements. An element refers to the smallest particle of a substance that cannot be broken down into anything simpler by a chemical process. To ease our work and also to achieve efficiency in our encounter with these elements, chemists decided to group these elements according to their properties. This gave rise to the periodic table.

The elements in the table get arranged with respect to their atomic numbers, chemical properties, reactivity among other factors. Copper has an atomic number of 29 and is, therefore, element number 29 in the periodic table. Zinc has an atomic number of 30 and is, therefore, element number 30 in the periodic table.

Atomic number- refers to the number of electrons in a single atom of an element. Therefore, a copper atom has 29 electrons while a zinc atom has 30.

With reference to the periodic table elements are represented using chemical symbols. The chemical symbols are essential since they make work easier while writing down chemical equations. Chemical equations get defined as a representation of the elements or compounds present in a reaction, with the reactants on the left side and the products on the right-hand side. The chemical symbol for copper is Cu while that of zinc is Zn. The atomic number is written as a superscript before the chemical symbol while the mass number get written as a subscript i.e.

29Cu 30Zn.

Electronic configuration refers to how electrons get arranged around the nucleus in an atom. Electrons found in the outermost energy level of an electron are the ones that take place in a chemical reaction. These electrons in the highest energy level are also called valence electrons. Copper has two valence electrons same as zinc. These elements get therefore placed in period 2. Periods are the horizontal rows in a periodic table while groups are the vertical columns.

An ion is a positively or negatively charged atom. Ions get formed by either the gaining or losing of electrons. When an atom losses electron the positively charged protons become more than the negatively charged electrons thus the ion so formed is positively charged and vice versa. Gaining of electrons leads to the formation of a negatively charged ion.

Reactivity of copper and zinc

Copper loses the two electrons in the highest energy level to form a copper ion with a charge of +2. We could represent this in a chemical equation as;

Cu Cu2+ + 2e-

Similarly, zinc loses the two valence electrons to form a zinc ion with a positive two charge.

Zn Zn2+ 2e-

These kinds of reactions that involve loosing of electrons are known as oxidation reactions. Reactions involving the gaining or addition of electrons are called reduction reactions. When copper ions react with zinc atoms the following reaction takes place;

Cu2+(aq) + Zn(aq) Zn2+(aq) + Cu(s)

The copper ions undergo reduction, i.e. the ion gains electrons leading to the formation of copper atoms. Zinc undergoes oxidation losing electrons forming zinc ions. Zinc can donate the electrons to copper since it is more reactive than copper. Consider the case of a stronger person in a position to offer some help to a weaker person. Zinc is, therefore, able to offer its valence electrons to copper thus allowing the formation of copper atoms.

A solution of copper nitrate contains blue copper 2+ ions hence it is blue. Zinc nitrate solution is colourless because the Zn2+ ions are colourless. When a strip of zinc metal gets placed in the copper nitrate solution, the blue colour disappears. This is as a result of the formation of copper atoms. The formed atoms are reddish brown. On the other hand, when a strip of copper metal gets placed in a solution of zinc nitrate, no reaction occurs. This is because copper is less reactive than zinc hence cannot take away the electrons from the zinc ions. Just like a weaker person cannot take away something from a stronger person it's the same way copper cannot take away electrons from zinc since it is less reactive.

Potato clock

When zinc and copper electrodes are put in a potato, there is a flow of electrons. These flowing electrons provide an electric current which powers the clock. An electric current can, therefore, get described as a flow of electrons. The flow of electrons is from the more reactive to the less reactive metal just like a fruit loosely attached to a tree can quickly fall off. This is because the more reactive metal can lose these electrons more efficiently than the less reactive metal. The potatoes act as an electrolyte. An electrolyte is a solution that allows for an electric current to be transmitted. Electrolyte solutions usually contain free ions. Therefore, the different reactivities of these metals lead to the production of an electric current.

Action of nitric acid on copper

When copper granules are added to dilute nitric acid, the following reaction occurs;

Copper metal + dilute nitric acid copper nitrate solution + nitrogen iv) oxide gas +water

The above word equation can be represented in chemical symbols as shown below;

Cu(s) + 4HNO3(aq) Cu(NO3)2(aq) + 2NO2(g) + 2H2O(l).

The reactants, i.e. copper and dilute nitric acid are on the left side of the equation while the products formed, i.e. copper nitrate solution (blue), nitrogen iv) oxide gas (reddish-brown), and water are on the right-hand side.

Since copper is more reactive than hydrogen, it can displace the hydrogen from the nitric acid and form copper nitrate solution. If a stronger person and a weaker one were both struggling to acquire a spot, most definitely the stronger individual would have the upper hand. In the same way, copper can displace hydrogen since it is more reactive than hydrogen.

Conclusion

Dear grandma, I hope this letter will be of help and assist you to understand the relationship between these elements better. Furthermore, they surround you in your everyday activities. Copper, for example, all the copper pennies and the electrical wires that we used to secure the photo frame from falling off during Thanksgiving that's copper. Zinc, on the other hand, is an essential nutrient in your body. You are, therefore, always in close contact with these elements and its good to explore them. Write back to me soon in case of any enquiries. Bye.