Maya stood up, her voice steady. “Magnesium is the most reactive, then zinc, then copper. Because a more reactive metal will displace a less reactive metal from its salt solution.”
Only the blue solution. Nothing happened. It remained still, a calm witness.
“Don’t be a hero yet,” Lin warned, pouring 2 cm³ of the deep, sapphire-blue copper(II) sulphate solution into each tube. The liquid was beautiful, like a piece of the ocean trapped in glass.
Later, as they washed the test tubes, Ravi looked at the reddish-brown copper residue stuck to the glass. “It’s like a chemical war,” he said. “The strong kick the weak out of their homes.”
The solution turned from vibrant blue to a pale, cloudy colourless. The reddish-brown solid was pure, elemental copper. Zinc was the hero.
Lin dropped a small piece of copper wire into the blue liquid. They waited. One minute. Two. The copper sat at the bottom like a sleeping snake. The blue remained blue.
Maya stood up, her voice steady. “Magnesium is the most reactive, then zinc, then copper. Because a more reactive metal will displace a less reactive metal from its salt solution.”
Only the blue solution. Nothing happened. It remained still, a calm witness.
“Don’t be a hero yet,” Lin warned, pouring 2 cm³ of the deep, sapphire-blue copper(II) sulphate solution into each tube. The liquid was beautiful, like a piece of the ocean trapped in glass.
Later, as they washed the test tubes, Ravi looked at the reddish-brown copper residue stuck to the glass. “It’s like a chemical war,” he said. “The strong kick the weak out of their homes.”
The solution turned from vibrant blue to a pale, cloudy colourless. The reddish-brown solid was pure, elemental copper. Zinc was the hero.
Lin dropped a small piece of copper wire into the blue liquid. They waited. One minute. Two. The copper sat at the bottom like a sleeping snake. The blue remained blue.