How do acids react with metals?

1 Answer
May 7, 2014

An acid metal reaction typically results in a salt and the release of Hydrogen gas.

An example of is would be Magnesium in Hydrochloric Acid.

#Mg + 2HCl -> MgCl_2 + H_2#

This is a single displacement reaction where the anion from the Acid recombined with the metal to form the salt, in this case #Mg^+2# and #Cl^-1# forming #MgCl_2# and the Hydrogen gas gets released.

Keep in mind that Hydrogen is a diatomic element and will always be #H_2# in its gas phase.

I hope this was helpful.
SMARTERTEACHER