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Single replacement lab w/ copper sulphate !help!

2006

Hey I'm in eighth grade and in class we are doing a lab where we placed 3 metals(copper, aluminum, iron) into copper sulphate [adv: item on eBay & Amazon] solution they chemically bonded. the copper had no reaction (did it?). The iron was coated with a red-ish brown-ish stuff (rust? Also it turned the solution clear. instead of blue.) The iron had an immediate reaction. it started to decompose and turn a nasty red-ish color. it also changed the solution to a greener tint. HELP THANKS (please tell me what really happened:)

SARAH

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2006

First tell us what really happened, Sarah. You typed too fast and proofread too little, and described what happened to the iron twice but not what happened to the aluminum. Say again what happened to the iron and what happened to the aluminum please. Thanks. Did your teacher not describe anything about what you were supposed to learn from the lab?

You are correct that nothing happened to the copper. The 'rust' that deposited on the iron when it was immersed in this salt of copper, did it look anything like copper to you? In the very old days scrap cars and other scrap iron were placed in rural streams downstream of copper processing facilities to remove the blue color from the waste.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey