Reactivity Series
Summary: Ranking of metals by their tendency to react and displace other elements. Tags: concepts chemistry Created: 2026-05-03T00:00:00Z Last Updated: 2026-05-03T00:00:00Z
Content
The reactivity series is a list of metals arranged in order of decreasing reactivity. A more reactive metal can displace a less reactive metal from its compound in a displacement reaction.
Key order (most reactive first): Potassium > Sodium > Calcium > Magnesium > Aluminium > Zinc > Iron > Lead > Copper > Silver > Gold
Applications:
- Predicting displacement reactions
- Extracting metals from ores (e.g., carbon reduces iron from iron oxide)
- Understanding corrosion (more reactive metals corrode faster)