Question

Out of zinc and copper vessel, which one will be more suitable to store 1M HCl solution?

Answer 1

copper will be more suitable as zinc is reactive and will readily react with HCl to form ZnCl

Answer 2

"When a metal reacts with HCl it loses electrons to give metal ion:

$M\quad +\quad { H }^{ + }\quad \rightarrow \quad { M }^{ + }\quad +\quad H$

Loss of electrons is oxidation, $M\quad \rightarrow \quad { M }^{ + }\quad +\quad 1{ e }^{ - }$. If a metal is easily oxidized then it can displace hydrogen from acid

The standard reduction potential of Cu, H, and Zn are as follows

${ E }^{ \circ  }_{ \frac { { Cu }^{ 2+ } }{ Cu }  }\quad =\quad +0.34\quad V$

${ E }^{ \circ  }_{ \frac { { H }^{ + } }{ H }  }\quad =\quad 0.00\quad V$

${ E }^{ \circ  }_{ \frac { { H }^{ + } }{ H }  }\quad =\quad -0.76\quad V$

These values indicate that "zinc" can "very easily" "lose electrons" than "Cu". Hence, if HCl is stored in zinc vessel, zinc will react with acid but if HCl is stored in copper vessel, copper will not react with acid. Thus, we can conclude that 1 M of HCl can be stored only in copper vessel."