Home / iGCSE Chemistry (0620) Core:9.4 Reactivity series: Exam Style Questions Paper 1

iGCSE Chemistry (0620) Core:9.4 Reactivity series: Exam Style Questions Paper 1

iGCSE Chemistry (0620) Core Paper 1 - All Chapters
Question

Silver metal is separately tested with cold water, with steam and with dilute hydrochloric acid.

Which row identifies the tests that show the chemical reactivity of silver?

 cold watersteamdilute hydrochloric acid
A✓✓✓
B✗✓✓
C✗✗✓
D✗✗✗
key: ✓ = reaction, ✗ = no reaction
▶️ Answer/Explanation
Solution

Ans: D

Silver is a relatively unreactive metal in the reactivity series. It doesn’t react with:

1. Cold water – silver is below hydrogen in the reactivity series
2. Steam – same reason as cold water
3. Dilute hydrochloric acid – silver is below hydrogen so can’t displace it from acids

Therefore, silver shows no reaction in all three tests, which corresponds to option D.

Question

Four metals, W, X, Y and Z, are tested with either cold water, steam or both.

The observations are shown.

metalobservations
Wreacts slowly with cold water
Xreacts rapidly with cold water
Ydoes not react with cold water but reacts with steam
Zdoes not react with cold water or steam

What is the order of reactivity of the metals from the least reactive to the most reactive?

▶️ Answer/Explanation
Solution

Ans: D

The reactivity series of metals with water/steam is as follows (from most reactive to least):

  1. Metals that react rapidly with cold water (e.g., Group 1 metals like sodium)
  2. Metals that react slowly with cold water (e.g., calcium)
  3. Metals that react only with steam (e.g., magnesium, aluminum, zinc, iron)
  4. Metals that don’t react with water or steam (e.g., copper, silver, gold)

From the observations:

  • X (reacts rapidly with cold water) is most reactive
  • W (reacts slowly with cold water) is next
  • Y (reacts only with steam) is less reactive than W
  • Z (no reaction) is least reactive

Therefore, the correct order from least to most reactive is: Z → Y → W → X, which matches option D.

Question

Four metals, P, Q, R and S, are added separately to water and to dilute hydrochloric acid.

The table shows the results.

  observation with water observation with dilute hydrochloric acid
P no reaction fizzes slowly
Q fizzes rapidly fizzes rapidly
R no reaction no reaction
S fizzes slowly fizzes rapidly

Which conclusion can be made from these observations?

A) P is the least reactive of the four metals.
B) Q is more reactive than S.
C) Q is less reactive than P.
D) R is the most reactive of the four metals.

▶️ Answer/Explanation
Solution

Ans: B

From the observations, we can deduce the reactivity order:

1. Q reacts rapidly with both water and acid, indicating it’s the most reactive.

2. S reacts slowly with water but rapidly with acid, making it less reactive than Q but more reactive than P.

3. P only reacts with acid (and slowly), making it less reactive than both Q and S.

4. R doesn’t react with either, making it the least reactive.

Therefore, the correct conclusion is B: Q is more reactive than S. The other options are incorrect because:

A) P isn’t the least reactive (R is)
C) Q is more reactive than P
D) R is actually the least reactive

Question

A metal reacts vigorously with cold water. Which statement about the metal is correct?

A. It is above hydrogen in the reactivity series.
B. It is below magnesium in the reactivity series.
C. Its oxide can be reduced with carbon.
D. It does not react with dilute acids.

▶️Answer/Explanation

Ans:

A

If a metal reacts vigorously with cold water, it indicates that the metal has a higher reactivity than hydrogen. In the reactivity series, metals are listed based on their ability to displace hydrogen from water or acids. Metals that are above hydrogen in the reactivity series will react with water, displacing hydrogen gas and forming metal hydroxides. Metals that are below hydrogen in the reactivity series will not react with water but may react with acids.

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