Suppose you have 5.00g of powdered magnesium metal, 1.00L of 2.00M potassium nitrate solution, and 1.00L of a 2.00M silver nitrate solution.
a) Which one of the solutions will react with the magnesium
powder?
I don't understand how to go about answering this question at all...
Look at the activity series. The Mg will displace the Ag in AgNO3 but will not react with KNO3.
Oh, awesome! I got it now. Thank you so much for your help!
To determine which solution will react with the magnesium metal, you can use the principles of solubility and reactivity.
First, you need to consider the solubility of magnesium, potassium nitrate, and silver nitrate in water. Magnesium is insoluble in water, so it will not dissolve. Both potassium nitrate and silver nitrate are soluble in water, meaning they will dissolve.
Next, you need to consider the reactivity of the substances involved. Magnesium is a highly reactive metal, capable of displacing other metals from their compounds.
Now, comparing the properties of the solutions, you can conclude that the 1.00L of 2.00M silver nitrate solution will react with the powdered magnesium metal. This is because silver is less reactive than magnesium, and the higher molarity of the silver nitrate solution indicates a greater number of silver ions available for the reaction.
Therefore, the silver nitrate solution will react with the magnesium powder.
To determine which solution will react with the magnesium powder, you need to consider the reactions that can occur between the compounds.
1. Magnesium reacts with oxygen gas to form magnesium oxide:
2 Mg + O2 -> 2 MgO
2. Magnesium reacts with potassium nitrate to form magnesium nitrate and potassium oxide:
3 Mg + 2 KNO3 -> Mg(NO3)2 + K2O
3. Magnesium reacts with silver nitrate to form magnesium nitrate and silver metal:
Mg + 2 AgNO3 -> Mg(NO3)2 + 2 Ag
Now, let's analyze each reaction:
a) Oxygen gas is not mentioned in the question, so we can ignore reaction 1.
b) The reaction of magnesium with potassium nitrate (reaction 2) forms magnesium nitrate and potassium oxide. However, we are given a potassium nitrate solution, not solid potassium nitrate. So, the potassium ions in the solution will not react with the magnesium powder. Therefore, we can exclude this reaction as well.
c) The reaction of magnesium with silver nitrate (reaction 3) forms magnesium nitrate and silver metal. Since we are given a silver nitrate solution, it means that there are silver ions present in the solution. These silver ions can react with the magnesium powder to form magnesium nitrate and solid silver. Hence, the answer to the question is that the silver nitrate solution will react with the magnesium powder.
To summarize, when given 5.00g of powdered magnesium metal, the 1.00L of 2.00M silver nitrate solution will react with it to form magnesium nitrate and silver metal.