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Answer 1 · 2014-10-18T17:30:57

There is no reaction between copper and zinc sulfate.

You can explain this by saying that copper is below zinc in the electrochemical series so cannot displace it from a solution of its salt.

At a higher level you can compare electrode potentials:

$Z n_{(a q)}^{2 +} + 2 e ⇌ Z n_{(s)}$ $Zn_((aq))^(2+)+2erightleftharpoonsZn_((s))$ $E^{0} = - 0.76 V$ $E^0=-0.76V$

$C u_{(a q)}^{2 +} + 2 e ⇌ C u_{(s)}$ $Cu_((aq))^(2+)+2erightleftharpoonsCu_((s))$ $E^{0} = + 0.34 V$ $E^0=+0.34V$

From these data you can conclude that zinc will tend to "push out" electrons relative to copper so zinc will reduce copper (II) to copper (0) .

The electronic configuration of copper is $[A r] 3 d^{10} 4 s 1$ $[Ar]3d^(10)4s1$

The electronic configuration of zinc is $[A r] 3 d^{10} 4 s^{2}$ $[Ar]3d^(10)4s^2$