Do we get the highest voltage by combining the highest and lowest reactive metals?

Daniel McNally The Commonweal School page

Introduction.

Atoms are the basis of chemistry; they are the building blocks for everything in the Universe. Atoms of hydrogen are the simplest and lightest, and atoms of uranium are the heaviest that occur naturally. All atoms consist of a central core called the nucleus, which possesses a certain number of protons and neutrons of positive charge surrounded by a cloud of electrons, each of which has unit negative charge. Their total negative charge is exactly equal to the positive charge on the nucleus; hence the atom as a whole is electrically neutral.

Theory.

To understand this experiment the reactivity series has to be introduced, this list of metals shows how reactive each individual metal is to certain circumstances (e.g.: How well sodium reacts to water, or air) The higher the metal in the series, the more reactive it is- i.e. the faster and more exothermic the reaction. Generally it is the least reactive metals that we have the most uses for and are the most expensive, like gold and silver that we use for jewellery.

[Reactivity Series]

Potassium (K)

Sodium (Na)

Calcium (Ca)

Magnesium (Mg)

(Aluminium Al)

(Zinc Zn)

(Iron Fe)

(Lead Pb)

(Copper Cu)

(Silver Ag)

(Platinum Pt)

Prediction.

In this experiment I will be using copper (cu) as the ‘control’, then testing other metals against it to see if the voltage increases. My prediction is that the voltage will increase between copper and a metal, if the metal is much higher in the reactivity series when compared to copper. My reasons behind this are to do with the atom shell theory, the more reactive the metal is, the more generous it ...