An Investigation Into The Factors That Affect The Enthalpy Change During A Displacement Reaction.

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zinc and cuso4 reaction

An Investigation Into The Factors That Affect The Enthalpy Change During A Displacement Reaction.

Background Knowledge

The reactivity series is an order that places metals in that series depending how vigorously that metal reacts with water, air or acid. A more reactive metal could displace a less reactive metal from its' compound.

Zinc (Zn) is a more reactive metal than Copper (Cu); it is higher in the reactivity than copper and thus when some zinc is placed in a solution of copper sulphate a displacement reaction takes place. The zinc goes into solution while the copper is "forced" out of solution. The situation can be described as follows:

The full equation is: Zinc + Copper Sulphate = Copper + Zinc Sulphate

Zn(s) + CuSo4 (aq) = Cu(s) + ZnSo4 (aq)

The Ionic equation is: Zinc + Copper = Copper + Zinc

Zn(s) + Cu 2+(aq) = Cu(s) + Zn 2+(aq)

The experiment will be exothermic; this means during the reaction, energy will be given off, mainly heat energy.

The specific heat capacity (Shc) of a substance is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one kilogram of it by one degree Celsius.
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The specific heat capacity of water is 4.2kj

Copper sulphate solution is mostly water, therefore its' Shc is about 4.2kj. We need to know this so we can calculate the heat energy produced in the reaction. The formula for heat energy produced is:

Heat energy = mass x Shc x change in temperature

As copper sulphate solution is mostly water it has a density of 1g/cm3, this means that the mass in grams has the same value as the volume in cm3.

I.E. If the copper sulphate solution has a ...

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