Question #2a4cc

1 Answer
Oct 18, 2014

There is no reaction between copper and zinc sulfate.

You can explain this by saying that copper is below zinc in the electrochemical series so cannot displace it from a solution of its salt.

At a higher level you can compare electrode potentials:

#Zn_((aq))^(2+)+2erightleftharpoonsZn_((s))# #E^0=-0.76V#

#Cu_((aq))^(2+)+2erightleftharpoonsCu_((s))# #E^0=+0.34V#

From these data you can conclude that zinc will tend to "push out" electrons relative to copper so zinc will reduce copper (II) to copper (0) .

The electronic configuration of copper is #[Ar]3d^(10)4s1#

The electronic configuration of zinc is #[Ar]3d^(10)4s^2#