Reactivity of metals

Denise 8a

Does a connection or relationship exist between the reactivity of a metal and the time it was discovered?

Our Question:

Background informationI know that metals with a greater atomic radius

are more reactive, as they release their electrons more easily. This is because the electrons are farther away from the nucleus, and therefore the nucleus has a weaker hold on them.

My hypothesisI think that it won’t matter when the metal was

discovered. This is because the factor that affects the reactivity of a metal is the atomic radius, which would not change depending on the time it was found.

There are currently around 117 metals, but for the sake of time and space, I will only list 10 of them ( in order of reactivity):

Metal When it was discovered

Reactivity

Cs – Caesium 1860 Extremely reactiveK – Potassium 1807 Extremely reactiveLi – Lithium 1817 Very reactiveMg – Magnesium 1808 Very reactiveZn – Zinc 1746 Fairly reactiveFe – Iron 2500 BC Fairly reactiveCo – Cobalt 1735 Fairly reactiveSn – Tin 2000 BC Not very reactiveBi – Bismuth 1753 Not very reactiveHg – Mercury 1500 BC Not very reactive

ConclusionI think that there’s a slight pattern, which could

easily be explained by coincidence. All of the more reactive metals (Caesium , Potassium, Lithium and Magnesium) were found in the 1800s, and the others stay in the 1700s and B.C.

I believe this disproves my hypothesis.

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