This activity investigates the energy changes that occur during displacement reaction. Experiments show that the magnitude of energy change can be related to the position of the metal in the Reactivity Series. Explanation of the energy change is given in terms of bond breaking and bond making.

This item teaches:

• about the reactivity series
• about the transfer of energy as a result of chemical reactions
• about the requirement of energy to break bonds in chemical reactions
• about the balance between bonds formed and broken in an endothermic reaction
• about the release of energy when bonds are formed in chemical reactions
• how mean bond enthalpies can be used to calculate the enthalpy change for a reaction
• about the balance between bonds formed and broken in an exothermic reaction
• about the use of bond energies to calculate the energy transferred in reactions
• about the determination of mean bond enthalpies