AOI-The Relationship Between the Reactivity of a Metal and When it was Discovered By: AlJohara AlThani 8B

Introduction Metals display different reactions towards different substances. The greater the ease with which an element loses its electrons and acquires a positive charge, the greater is its reactivity. Furthermore, the greater the number of shells and the lesser the number of valence electrons, the greater is the reaction of the metal. The activity series of metals, arranges all metals in order of their reaction. Starting with Potassium as the most reactive, and as Gold as the least reactive.

The Reactivity Series of Metals

The Date Metals Were Discovered Currently, there are 86 known metals. Before the 19th century only 24 of these metals had been discovered and 12 of these 24 metals, were discovered in the 18th century. 4 of the 86 metals were, antimony, zinc, bismuth and arsenic, were discovered in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, while platinum was discovered in the 16th century. The other seven metals, known as the Metals of Antiquity.

The Metals of Antiquity Metals of antiquity refers to the seven metals which humankind had identified and found use for in prehistoric times. Of these seven metals, five can be found in their native. The other two, (tin and lead), must be smelted from ore; however, both smelt at low enough temperatures that a simple campfire is sufficiently hot to do so, at least with ores that were available in ancient times.

Metals of Antiquity 1.Gold was discovered in 6000BC 2.Copper was discovered in 4200BC 3.Silver was discovered in 4000BC 4.Lead was discovered in 3500BC 5. Tin was discovered in 1750BC 6. Iron was discovered in 1500BC 7. Mercury was discovered in 750BC

The Relationship! As you can see from the table in the slide above, gold was discovered in 6000BC and iron was discovered in 1500BC. So gold was discovered before iron. But in the reactivity series table, iron is more reactive than gold. So the relationship between the reactivity of a metal and when it was discovered is that, the older the metal was found, the less reactive it is.

The Relationship! So, it depends on the time it was found. Since gold was discovered in 6000BC, and iron was discovered in 1500BC, the difference between the time these metals was discovered is 4500 years. And because of its longer time period, that’s why iron is more reactive than gold.

The Relationship! However; in the reactivity series table, copper is more reactive than silver, but, silver was discovered after copper by only 200 years. So if the difference of years is not that large; (apprx. between years), the rule will still be the same.

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