Question

What us the theory behind the reaction between zinc and sulphuric acid

Answer 1

The theory behind the reaction between zinc (Zn) and sulphuric acid (H2SO4) is based on the concept of "reaction of metals with acids."

There is a similar type of reaction to it,called the displacement reaction.


Let us first know what displacement reaction is:-

Displacement reaction is a reaction in which the highly reactive metal displaces the low reactive metal in a compound.

Reactivity means how fast a metal reacts in a chemical reaction.

Highly reactive metals are the ones, which react very fast/fast in a chemical reaction, whereas,the low reactive metals are the ones, which react very slowly/slowly in a chemical reaction.

Here is the reactive series of metals arranged in their decreasing order of reactivity:-


Trick
to
learn. Metals. Symbol
the
reactivity
series

1) Please. Potassium. P

2) Stop. Sodium. Na

3) Calling. Calcium. Ca

4) Me. Magnesium. Mg

5) A. Aluminium. Al

6) Careless Carbon. C

7) Zebra. Zinc. Zn

8) Instead. Iron. Fe

9) Try. Tin. Sn

10) Learning. Lead. Pb

11) How. Hydrogen (non-metal) H

12) Copper Copper. Cu

13) Saves. Silver. Ag

14) Gold Gold. Au

Now, coming to your question.

As I told earlier that, this reaction is based on the concept on "reaction of metals with acids."

We must always remember that metals react with dilute acids only, like dilute hydrochloric acid (HCL) and dilute sulphuric acid (H2SO4) to form there salts and liberate hydrogen gas.



Here, zinc reacts with sulphuric acid to form/give zinc sulphate and hydrogen gas.

Zn+H2SO4--->ZnSO4+H2

Answer 2

Explanation:

Zinc metal reacts with dil. sulphuric acid and produces hydrogen gas.

Chemical Reaction:

Zn(s) + H2SO4(aq)==> ZnSO4 + H2

This is an example of a single displacement reaction of a non-metal by a metal.