This is like the other one I posted about. I have to predict the product.
Zinc (s) + sulfuric acid (aq) ----> ____
Please and thank you!
This is a single replacement type reaction. Products are ZnSO4 and H2. Same type as Al and HCl.
how do you know that H2 is alone instead of SO4?
The half reactions are:
Zn ==> Zn++ + 2e
2H+ + 2e ==> H2
The SO4= is a spectator ion. It never enters into the reaction. Since the Zn metal becomes positively charged, by giving up its two outside electrons, then it will replace the positive ion in H2SO4 and not the negative ion (SO4^-2). I hope this helps.
To predict the products of the given reaction between zinc (Zn) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4), you can use the concept of single replacement reactions. In these types of reactions, one element replaces another in a compound.
First, you need to identify the ions present in the reactants. Zinc (Zn) is a metal, and when it reacts, it tends to lose electrons and forms a positive ion, Zn^2+. Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) is an aqueous solution, meaning it dissociates into ions when dissolved in water. In this case, it dissociates into H^+ and SO4^2- ions.
Now, you compare the reactivity of the metals involved. In this case, Zn is more reactive than H^+, so it will replace the hydrogen ion in the acid.
The balanced ionic equation for the reaction can be written as follows:
Zn(s) + H2SO4(aq) → ZnSO4(aq) + H2(g)
This reaction produces zinc sulfate (ZnSO4) as one of the products and hydrogen gas (H2) as the other product. The sulfuric acid is effectively a spectator ion and does not participate in any chemical changes.
To arrive at this conclusion, I also mentioned the concept of half reactions. These are the individual reactions that occur at each electrode (anode and cathode) during an oxidation-reduction reaction. In this case, the half reactions are:
Oxidation half-reaction (anode):
Zn(s) → Zn^2+ + 2e-
Reduction half-reaction (cathode):
2H^+ + 2e- → H2(g)
By combining these two half reactions, you can see that Zn reacts with H^+ to form Zn^2+ and releases H2 gas as a product.
I hope this explanation helps! Let me know if you have any further questions.