Question

In the refining of silver the recovery of silver from silver nitrate solution involved displacement by copper metal . write down the reaction involved.

Answer 1

Hint : Displacement reaction is a redox reaction . Which means both the oxidation and reduction takes place simultaneously . Oxidation is loss of electrons and the reduction reaction is the gaining of electrons . This type of reaction depends upon the reactivity of the metals .

Complete step by step answer
Displacement reaction is a type of reaction in which one part of reactant is replaced by another part of reactant which is more reactive .
There are two type of displacement reaction
Single displacement reaction – means there is displacement of one element with the other reactant of the reaction.
Double displacement reaction – it means displacement of the ionic parts of two compounds with each other.
In this question we have single displacement reaction so let us try to write the reaction :
We know chemical formula of silver nitrate is \[AgN{O_3}\]
So , according to the question silver nitrate is displaced by copper , which means copper is more reactive than silver.
 $ 2AgN{O_3}\left( {Aq} \right) + Cu\left( s \right) \to 2Ag\left( s \right) + Cu{\left( {N{O_3}} \right)_2}\left( {aq} \right) $
In this copper is replacing silver and due to this reaction silver is easily extracted. Hence above is the reaction which is taking place.

Additional Information
The displacement reaction occurs by the help of reactivity series . It is a series in which the elements are placed according to their reactivity from highest to lowest value . generally metal having higher atomic number are more reactive than the lower atomic number.
Following is the reactivity series :
 $ K\rangle Na\rangle Ca\rangle Mg\rangle Al\rangle Zn\rangle Fe\rangle Pb\rangle H\rangle Cu\rangle Hg\rangle Ag\rangle Au\rangle Pt $
Here the most reactive is potassium and lowest platinum . Hydrogen is also placed in this series even though it is non metal , It is placed just to compare the reactivity of the different metals .

Note
Try to remember the above series. It will help you to know when the displacement reaction will take place and when it will not . As the lower reactive metal cannot displace the higher metal from its compound. This type of reaction helps in extraction of metals, thermite welding and steel making.