Question

When a strip of aluminium metal is dipped in a solution of ferrous sulphate, the pale green colour of the solution fades away. State the conclusion you can draw from this observation. Write the chemical equation for the reaction that occurs in this case.

Answer 1

The fading of the pale green color of the ferrous sulphate solution indicates that a displacement reaction has occurred. Aluminium is more reactive than iron; therefore, it displaces iron from the ferrous sulphate solution. The resulting solution contains aluminium sulphate, which is colorless. The metallic iron formed is deposited on the aluminum strip.

The chemical equation for the reaction is:

\[ 2Al(s) + 3FeSO_4(aq) \rightarrow Al_2(SO_4)_3(aq) + 3Fe(s) \]