Question 3
A group of learners placed copper, magnesium, silver and zinc in a Bunsen flame to see how they reacted with oxygen. Their notes were:
- Copper: Nothing really happened; there was a slight colour change after the metal was held in the flame for a long time.
- Magnesium: The metal burnt with a brilliant white light (too bright to look at). It produced white smoke that consisted of white particles.
- Silver: The metal was placed in the flame and we waited for a few minutes for something to happen, but it never did.
- Zinc: After a short while, we saw a light blue flame. After we removed the metal from the flame, we saw a white powder on the metal.
When metals react with oxygen, they form a metal oxide. Write word equations that describe the reactions of the other three metals.
- Copper: Nothing really happened; there was a slight colour change after the metal was held in the flame for a long time.
- Magnesium: The metal burnt with a brilliant white light (too bright to look at). It produced white smoke that consisted of white particles.
- Silver: The metal was placed in the flame and we waited for a few minutes for something to happen, but it never did.
- Zinc: After a short while, we saw a light blue flame. After we removed the metal from the flame, we saw a white powder on the metal.
When metals react with oxygen, they form a metal oxide. Write word equations that describe the reactions of the other three metals.
