Question

When a copper wire was left in a silver nitrate solution for some time, it was observed that the solution turned bluish green.
i)Explain the observation.
ii)Write the balanced equation to represent the change taking place

Answer 1

Hint: In the question copper wire was left in silver nitrate solution. Copper wire has red orange metallic lustre. Atomic weight of copper is 63.546. We will check the reaction of the above question.

Complete step by step solution:
(i) When copper wire is placed in silver nitrate solution then the solution becomes blue colored. We will use electrochemical series to solve the question.
Copper is more reactive than silver. Hence when copper wire is dipped in silver nitrate solution it displaces silver from silver nitrate (AgNO3 ) solution forming copper nitrate which is bluish green in color.
This is a displacement reaction.
A shining grey white deposit of silver is formed on the copper strip and therefore the solution becomes bluish green because of the formation of copper nitrate.
We observe that the solution becomes blue colored.
(ii)In the next part of the question we will write the balanced equation of the above observation.
The balanced equation is:
$Cu\, + \,2AgN{O_3}\, \to \,Cu{(N{O_3})_2}\, + \,2Ag$
Additional information: Silver nitrate is an inorganic compound with chemical formula AgNO. This salt is a versatile precursor to many other silver compounds, such as those used in photography. It is far less sensitive to light than the halides.

Note: Albertus Magnus, in the 13th century, documented the ability of nitric acid to separate gold and silver by dissolving the silver. Magnus noted that the resulting solution of silver nitrate could blacken skin. Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orange color.