This mini-lesson walks you through the main ideas of the CCEA unit on Metals & the Reactivity Series: the properties of metals, the reactivity series (with carbon and hydrogen marked), how metals react with water, steam and acid, displacement reactions, how metals are extracted, and their uses.
Make a guess: what single property ranks every metal?
Mission 1What single property ranks every metal?
Mission 2Why does carbon work for iron but not aluminium?
Work through each screen, answer the questions as you go (some are wordy, some pick a method or a product) and collect ⭐ stars. Press Start when you're ready.
Properties of metals
What makes a metal a metal
Most metals share a family of physical properties that come from their metallic bonding:
Shiny (lustrous) when freshly cut or polished.
Good conductors of heat and electricity.
Malleable — can be hammered or bent into shape.
Ductile — can be drawn out into wires.
Strong and usually dense, with high melting points (mercury is the famous liquid exception).
Sonorous — they ring when struck.
Metals are malleable (shaped) and ductile (drawn into wire) — non-metals are usually brittle.
Watch out:chemical reactivity is a different idea from these physical properties. A metal can be shiny and a great conductor (like gold) yet be very unreactive.
Quick check
Spot the property
?Copper is drawn out into long, thin wires for electrical cables. Which property of metals does this rely on?
The reactivity series
Ranking metals by reactivity
The reactivity series lists metals from most reactive at the top to least reactive at the bottom. Two non-metals — carbon and hydrogen — are often added as reference points. CCEA expects you to recall the order of K, Na, Ca, Mg, Al, Zn, Fe and Cu.
The reactivity series. Carbon and hydrogen are markers — a metal's position relative to them decides how it behaves.
Watch out: reactivity links to how readily a metal loses electrons to form positive ions. The metals at the top do this most easily.
Quick check
Reading the series
?In the CCEA reactivity series, which of these metals is the most reactive?
Reactions with water & steam
Metals + water and steam
How a metal reacts with water tells you where it sits in the series:
Cold water — only the most reactive metals (K, Na, Ca) fizz in cold water, giving a metal hydroxide + hydrogen.
Steam — metals like Mg, Zn, Al, Fe react very slowly or not at all with cold water but react with heated steam to give a metal oxide + hydrogen.
No reaction — copper, silver and gold do not react with water or steam.
metal + water → metal hydroxide + hydrogen2Na + 2H₂O → 2NaOH + H₂ (sodium in cold water)
Reactive metals fizz in cold water; mid-series metals react much faster with steam, giving the oxide not the hydroxide.
Watch out: cold water gives a hydroxide; steam gives an oxide. Both release hydrogen gas.
Quick check
What does steam give?
?Magnesium is heated and steam is passed over it. What are the two products?
Reactions with dilute acid
Metals + dilute acid
Many metals react with a dilute acid to give a salt and hydrogen. The more reactive the metal, the more vigorously it fizzes:
metal + acid → salt + hydrogenMg + 2HCl → MgCl₂ + H₂ (magnesium + hydrochloric acid)
Watching the rate of fizzing in the same acid lets you put metals in order of reactivity.
Placing metals from observations: the faster a metal fizzes (or the more its temperature rises), the more reactive it is. Copper (below hydrogen) gives no reaction with dilute acid at all.
Quick check
Acid products
?Zinc is added to dilute hydrochloric acid and bubbles appear. What are the products?
Sort it
Order from observations
Three unknown metals are dropped into the same dilute acid. Tap the metals from most reactive (fizzes fastest) to least reactive — start with the most reactive.
Displacement reactions
The more reactive metal wins
In a displacement reaction, a more reactive metal pushes a less reactive metal out of its compound (often a salt solution):
Fe + CuSO₄ → FeSO₄ + Cuiron is above copper, so iron displaces copper from copper(II) sulfate
An iron nail in blue copper(II) sulfate goes brown (copper deposits) while the solution fades to pale green iron(II) sulfate.
Watch out: displacement only happens if the added metal is higher in the series than the one in the compound. Copper would not displace iron — it is less reactive.
Quick check
Predict the displacement
?A strip of each metal is placed in magnesium sulfate solution. Which metal will displace the magnesium?
Mission 1 check
What single property ranks every metal?
?Metal X does not react with cold water, but it fizzes in dilute acid. It also displaces copper from copper(II) sulfate solution. Which single property decides X's place in the reactivity series?
Mission 2 of 2
Why does carbon work for iron but not aluminium?
Make a guess: why does carbon free iron but not aluminium?
Extraction of metals
Extraction follows the series
Most metals are found combined in ores. How you get the metal out depends on its position in the reactivity series relative to carbon:
Above carbon (very reactive — K, Na, Ca, Mg, Al): the bond to oxygen is too strong for carbon to break, so they are extracted by electrolysis.
Below carbon (Zn, Fe, Pb, Cu): carbon is more reactive than these metals, so it can reduce the ore — they are extracted by reduction with carbon.
Very unreactive (gold): found native as the metal itself, needing little or no extraction.
The dividing line is carbon: above it, electrolysis; below it, carbon reduction. Electrolysis is used for the most reactive metals because nothing cheaper can break their bonds.
Why electrolysis for reactive metals? A metal above carbon holds onto oxygen too tightly for carbon to take it. Only the energy of electrolysis can separate the metal — which is why it is more expensive.
Quick check
Choose the method
?Aluminium sits above carbon in the reactivity series. Which method is used to extract it from its ore?
Sort it
Which extraction method?
Tap a metal, then tap the box for how it is extracted. Remember: above carbon → electrolysis, below carbon → carbon reduction.
⚡ Electrolysis
🔥 Carbon reduction
Mission 2 check
Why does carbon work for iron but not aluminium?
?Zinc is below carbon in the reactivity series. Magnesium is above it. Heating zinc oxide with carbon gives zinc. Heating magnesium oxide with carbon gives no magnesium. Why?
Uses of metals
Reactivity decides the job
We pick a metal for a job partly from its properties and partly from its reactivity:
Copper — an excellent conductor and fairly unreactive, so it is used for electrical wiring and water pipes.
Aluminium — low density (light) and resists corrosion, so it is used for aircraft and drinks cans.
Gold — very unreactive so it keeps its shine, making it ideal for jewellery.
Reactive metals (which transfer electrons easily) are used in batteries.
Unreactive metals (copper, gold) last in air; light, corrosion-resistant aluminium suits aircraft.Quick check
Choosing a metal
?Why is gold a good choice for jewellery that stays shiny for years?