Redox Reaction Lab

In this lab, the experiment consisted of multiple reactions performed in a cyclical manner to begin with solid, elemental copper and end with solid, elemental copper. The first and fifth reactions are oxidation-reduction, or redox, reactions, where a transfer of electrons occurs, changing the charge of an element or ion. Redox reactions are often a type of single replacement reactions, in which one elemental species will react with another molecular species, producing another elemental solid out of the metal of the molecular species, as well as a new molecular species with the original elemental species and the ion or non-metal from the original molecular species. For example, if elemental zinc (Zn) were to react with hydrochloric acid (HCl), the chlorine from the hydrochloric acid would bond with the zinc to create zinc chloride (ZnCl2), leaving the hydrogen (H2) as a diatomic gas. The second reaction is a double displacement, in which two species, both consisting of two parts, essentially switch partners with each other. For example, if lead (II) nitrate (Pb(NO3)2) were to react with potassium iodide (KI2), the products would each have the metal from their original reactant bonded with the

The reaction created quite a stir, fizzing slightly and turning the solution a dark greenish blue almost immediately, before settling into a clear teal solution after a minute of stirring with a glass rod. This reaction produced clear, teal blue, aqueous copper (II) nitrate, dissociated into the ions Cu2+ and NO3-, as well as clear, colorless water (H2O) in its liquid form, and nitrogen dioxide, a dark, orange-yellow gas that escaped as the solution was being