Question

How do you write a equation for "Aluminum + copper (ll) sulfate -> copper + aluminum sulfate"?

Answer 1

`2Al(s)+3CuSO_4(aq)->Al_2(SO_4)_3(aq)+3Cu(s)`

Explanation:

The reaction would be the following :

`2Al(s)+3CuSO_4(aq)->Al_2(SO_4)_3(aq)+3Cu(s)`

This is an oxidation-reduction reaction were electrons are transferred from Aluminum `Al` which get oxidized to Copper `Cu^(2+)` which gets reduced.

Oxidation: `Al(s)->Al^(3+)(aq)+3e^-`

Reduction: `Cu^(2+)(aq)+2e^(-)->Cu(s)`

The net redox reaction would then be:

`color(red)(2xx)(Al(s)->Al^(3+)(aq)+cancel(3e^-))`
`color(red)(3xx)(Cu^(2+)(aq)+cancel(2e^(-))->Cu(s))`
`---------------`
`2Al(s)+3Cu^(2+)(aq)->2Al^(3+)(aq)+3Cu(s)`

Note that `SO_4^(2-)` is a spectator ion.