Would Mg react with sulfuric acid? why or why not?

Question

Would Mg react with sulfuric acid? why or why not?

Answer 1

Yes, Mg would react with sulfuric acid. Get an activity series. There should be one in your book or you can use yahoo or google to search the term "activity series." You should see that Mg is above H on the activity series which means Mg can react with acids such as sulfuric acid.

Answer 2

Mg is above H is the activity series of elements which is basically a pecking order for elements, but only in single replacement reactions, so since Mg is above, it can kick H off of H2SO4 and form MgSO4 + H2. The formula for single replacement reactions is AB + C = B + AC.  In this reaction A = Mg, B = H, C = SO4.  Put the formula together and you have Mg + H2SO4 = MgSO4 + H2. (If your book doesn't have a list of activity series, your teacher probably has one).

Answer 3

yup... it's a very strong acid!

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on paper, the reaction looks like this:

Mg + H2SO4 = MgSO4 + 2H