Ask a Teacher



What is the difference between displacement reaction and double displacement reaction? Write equation for these reactions

Displacement Reaction

Chemical reaction in which a less reactive element is replaced in a compound by a more reactive one.

For example, the addition of powdered zinc to a solution of copper(II) sulphate displaces copper metal, which can be detected by its characteristic colour:

Zn(s) + CuSO4(aq)  ZnSO4(aq) + Cu(s)

The copper is taken out of the solution and is deposited as a solid (s).

In a double displacement or metathesis reaction two compounds exchange bonds or ions in order to form different compounds.

AB + CD ? AD + CB

An example of a double displacement reaction occurs between sodium chloride and silver nitrate to form sodium nitrate and silver chloride.

NaCl (aq) + AgNO3(aq) ? NaNO3(aq) + AgCl(s)


comments powered by Disqus