Interesting chemistry question

bonkysleuth SG

Am doing a chemistry project. Need help with some doubts I have. Does anyone know what solid metal reacts with aqueous CuSO2 to produce a gas? I need this info. very urgently.

Thankssssssssss

unclebutcher SG

sodium? potassium?

ThunderFbolt SG

won't those metals react with the water instead of the copper compound?

bonkysleuth SG

Sodium and potassium will displace the aq. CuSO4 solution, won't it?

And to ThunderFbolt, no, this question is asking for reaction between the copper compound and another metal.

As a matter of fact, i am also wondering how on earth we can manage to extract this solid metal from its chloride... from what we learnt in the textbooks, retrieving metals such as zinc, iron, lead involves reducing their metal oxides to the metal using carbon. But this particular, unique solid metal... I have no idea how you can get it from its chloride salt. Whatever the case, I'll find out its identity before deciding how to retrieve it.

If anyone's got any idea, feel free to post. thanks

ThunderFbolt SG

no no, you mistaken me. as you said that the CuSO2 is in aqueous solution (which means that the compound is dissolved in water), when you throw in sodium or potassium into the solution you will instead get sodium or potassium hydroxide (which does produce a gas, but with the water instead of the compound), which reacts with the CuSO2 to produce insoluble blue ppt? and Na or K SO2(2-) ions

bonkysleuth SG

Oh, may I know what is the insoluble blue ppt? if NaOH or KOH reacts with CuSO4, products are Na2SO4 or K2SO4 and Cu(OH)2 right?

ThunderFbolt SG

oh, whoops, forgot that Cu(OH)2 is insoluble in water it is soluble in hydroxide. so you'll get a blue solution. however, in the case of the CuSO2 (or 4, seeing as you put that in a later post) it is impossible to get the sulphur dioxide or oxygen gas by adding a metal to the solution. in the case of CuSO4, you could precipitate it out and heat it strongly to drive out the water vapour, as the compound is copper (II) sulphate pentahydrate (or something, can't remember the name), though the copper and sulphate ions are still untouched.