Metals are the most important and in many ways unique chemical elements. Almost all of them are characterized by properties such as good electrical conductivity, gloss, thermal conductivity. At the same time, separate groups can be distinguished among them, the characteristics of which will differ significantly. Part of these distinctive features formed the basis of such a concept as “a series of metal activity”.
Metals, as you know, differ in that they give away free electrons during chemical reactions. Their electrode potential depends on the rate of this process. In turn, these values served as the basis for forming a series of metal stresses - a relatively arbitrary sequence that characterizes the ability of an element to react with certain substances.
The conventionality of the place of each element in this series follows from the fact that at different temperatures and composition of the solution they behave more or less actively. The average values of the indicators are displayed at a solution temperature of 25 degrees Celsius and gas pressure in one atmosphere. It is under such conditions that a number of metal activity takes on the form that is familiar to each of the school chemistry course.
From all these indicators, a whole list of the most important properties follows. First, a series of metal tensions can help us predict how certain elements will behave during the reaction: those that are to the left in this sequence will replace those that are to their right. Secondly, if the element is located to the left of hydrogen, the electrode potential of which is assumed to be equal to zero, then it can displace it from acid solutions. This applies in particular to lithium, sodium, potassium and other alkaline elements. Finally, thirdly, a series of metal activity greatly helps in creating galvanic cells: the farther from each other the cells are in it, the higher the electric potential between them will arise.
It was focusing on what metals displace each other from salt solutions, and the outstanding Russian scientist Beketov compiled his famous table. This table was subsequently slightly adjusted and served as the basis for what has been known as the “series of metal activity” for more than a hundred years.
It is curious enough to compare certain patterns arising from the Periodic Table and this sequence. So, based on the work of Mendeleev, potassium should be more active than sodium and lithium, but a number of tensions give a completely different picture. The main reason for this contradiction lies in the foundations that underlie these sequences. The periodic system reflects a change in the ionization energy of atoms, and the Beketov sequence indicates what work needs to be done in order to transfer an element from a solid state to a set of ions in the idea of an aqueous solution.