Last week we worked with
Zinc. Zn and Al are both stronger
reducing agents than copper.
(Note: the redox potentials on
next slide.)
Because of this either one
would work to produce metallic copper from
a solution of a copper
salt. We chose aluminum to work
with because the reaction between Zinc and
Copper Chloride is quite exothermic and extreme caution would have
had to have been observed to avoid burns.