Asian 10 Posted March 6, 2007 Why when HCl reacts with a metal the metal changes colors. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Darkblade48 11 Posted March 7, 2007 Metals don't change colour upon reacting with hydrochloric acid; unless, perhaps, you're thinking of transition metals and their salts? 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Asian 10 Posted March 7, 2007 so if you are looking for wether or not hcl is reactive with a metal, a change in color of the metal would not be something to look for? 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Darkblade48 11 Posted March 7, 2007 so if you are looking for wether or not hcl is reactive with a metal, a change in color of the metal would not be something to look for? I would not look for a colour change, no. I can think of several metals that will react with hydrochloric acid that do not elicit a colour change. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
woelen 18 Posted March 7, 2007 Why when HCl reacts with a metal the metal changes colors. Usually there seems to be a change of color (e.g. if you put a copper coin in acid, it turns much more reddish), but that is due to dissolving of an oxide-layer, or more generally, a layer of impurities and tarnished metal. Most metals do tarnish in contact with air, especially if they are humid, or handled by humans and grease and dirt stick to the metal (e.g. coins, tools). 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
John Cuthber 3813 Posted March 7, 2007 It depends on what you mean by colour. Is "silver" a colour? If you put zinc, which is silver coloured ,into HCl it will dissolve to give zinc chloride, which is colourless (and hydrogen). 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
