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A chemistry student is given a piece of copper and asked to react it with dilute hydrochloric acid. Will the reaction occur and if so, what product (if any) will be produced? Use your knowledge of single replacement reactions to explain your answer.

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The reaction between copper and dilute hydrochloric acid will not occur. This is because copper is less reactive than hydrogen, which is present in the hydrochloric acid  HCl . In a single replacement reaction, a more reactive element can replace a less reactive element in a compound. However, since copper is less reactive than hydrogen, it cannot replace hydrogen in the HCl compound.If the student were to use a more reactive acid, such as nitric acid  HNO3 , then a reaction would occur, producing copper nitrate  Cu NO3 2  and hydrogen gas  H2 . But in the case of dilute hydrochloric acid, no reaction will take place, and no products will be formed.

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