Reaction Prediction

[Fastguy]

Hey Guys,

I'm new here, my name is Alex. I'm having a lot of trouble with Chemistry and we are doing Reaction Predictions right now. Ok in this worksheet, I'm given a bunch of reactants and I'm expected to:

 

1. Tell what type of reaction might be expected

2. Whether the reaction will occur or not

3. If not, why it will not occur; then write the symbols and formulas for the

reactants

4. If so, what the balanced equation for the reaction is

5. In the case of double displacement reactions, whether the reaction goes

to completion or not

 

ok for number 1 they gave me tin and copper (ll) sulfate

 

Sn+ Cu(SO4)2

 

Ok I have a lot of questions. Did I write that reactant right, if not could you please explain to me what I did wrong. I understand that oxidation numbers come in to play when writing these. Copper is a transititonal element, so what would it's oxidation number be? How do you tell whether or not the reactants will work or not? When it says tell what type of reaction might be expected, I'm guessing it means the possibilities, there can be more than one possible reaction or no? Also when it says In the case of double displacement reactions, whether the reaction goes to completion or not. What is completion and how do you tell when it goes there?

 

There is one other reactant I don't quite understand:

 

 

electrolyzed

Calcium oxide --------------->

 

What does it mean 'electrolyzed' and what would I do in this situation? Thank you so much for your help.

 

*Alex*

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

That would indeed be [ce]Sn + Cu(SO4)2[/ce]. The way you can tell what sort of reaction it will be is simply look: You have a metal (tin) and a metal sulfate ([ce]Cu(SO4)2[/ce]). The only logical reaction here would be single displacement, because the tin isn't bonded with anything (and thus there isn't anything for double displacement to displace).

 

For single displacement reactions, you'll want to check your (re)activity series to determine if the single metal (tin, here) will displace the bonded metal.

 

Hope that helps.

 

 

(Disclaimer: I'm not a chemist, I just know some basics and I can use Wikipedia to my full advantage. Please correct me if I messed up here.)

[Fastguy]

For single displacement reactions, you'll want to check your (re)activity series to determine if the single metal (tin, here) will displace the bonded metal.

 

Thank you for replying! Ok looking at my activity series of elements, I see that Tin has more activity than copper. So they will react, right? As a general rule of thumb: metals and metals will react. Are there more comboinations that will work?

 

*Alex*

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Yes, they'll react, I think.

 

I'm not really aware of which combinations make a difference. I'll have to let a more experienced chemist help you there.