Metals are the most important and in many ways unique chemical elements. Almost all of them are characterized by such properties as good electrical conductivity, gloss, thermal conductivity. At the same time, separate groups can be distinguished among them, the characteristics of which will differ significantly. Some of these distinctive features formed the basis of such a concept as the “metal activity series.”
Metals, as you know, are distinguished by the fact that during chemical reactions they give away free electrons. Their electrode potential depends on the rate of this process. In turn, these values served as the basis for forming a series of metal stresses - a relatively conditional sequence that characterizes the ability of an element to react with certain substances.
Convention of the place of each element in the given rowfollows from the fact that at different temperatures and composition of the solution, they behave more or less actively. The average values of the indicators are displayed at a solution temperature of 25 degrees Celsius and a gas pressure of one atmosphere. It is under such conditions that the activity series of metals takes the form that is familiar to each of the school chemistry course.
From all these indicators follows a whole list of the most important properties. First, a series of metal strengths can help us predict how certain elements will behave during a reaction: those that are to the left in a given sequence will replace those that are to the right of them. Secondly, if the element is located to the left of hydrogen, the electrode potential of which is usually assumed to be zero, then it can displace it from acid solutions. This applies in particular to lithium, sodium, potassium and other alkaline elements. Finally, thirdly, the activity series of metals is of great help in the creation of galvanic cells: the farther apart the elements are in it, the higher the electrical potential between them will arise.
It was precisely on the basis of what metals displace each other from s alt solutions that the outstanding Russian scientist Beketov compiled his famous table. This table was subsequently slightly corrected and served as the basis for what has been known as the “metal activity series” for more than a hundred years.
It is interesting enough to compare certain patterns arising from the Periodic Table and thissequences. So, based on the work of Mendeleev, potassium should be more active than sodium and lithium, but the tension series gives a completely different picture. The main reason for this contradiction lies in the foundations that underlie these sequences. The periodic system reflects the change in the ionization energy of atoms, and the Beketov sequence reflects what work needs to be done to transfer one or another element from a solid state to a set of ions in the idea of an aqueous solution.
