Reactivity series: the order of metals for each exam board

The reactivity series puts metals in order, from the most reactive to the least reactive. A more reactive metal can push a less reactive one out of its compound. Each board lists a different set of metals. Edexcel runs from potassium down to gold, with carbon and hydrogen in brackets. AQA names eight metals and leaves out aluminium. The table sets the lists side by side.

What the order tells you

When a metal reacts, its atoms lose electrons and become positive ions. An ion is an atom with an electric charge. The more easily a metal forms its positive ion, the more reactive it is. AQA, Edexcel and OCR all link reactivity to this idea.

You find the order by watching how fast each metal reacts with water and with dilute acids. A metal near the top reacts fast. A metal near the bottom reacts slowly or not at all. For AQA, these reactions happen at room temperature, and reactions with steam are left out.

An acid and a reactive metal make a salt and hydrogen gas. You can check for the hydrogen with a burning splint, as the page on tests for gases shows.

Each board's list of metals

The boards print these lists, most reactive first:

AQA (8462 and 8464): potassium, sodium, lithium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, copper. AQA says hydrogen and carbon are often added, and gives them no fixed place.
Edexcel (1CH0 and 1SC0): potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, aluminium, (carbon), zinc, iron, (hydrogen), copper, silver, gold.
OCR Twenty First Century (J258): potassium, sodium, calcium, aluminium, magnesium, zinc, iron, lead, [hydrogen], copper, silver. Carbon goes between aluminium and zinc.
OCR Gateway (J248) prints no fixed list. You work out an order from your own results, such as displacement reactions.

Look closely at aluminium and magnesium. Edexcel puts magnesium above aluminium, and OCR Twenty First Century puts aluminium above magnesium. Go with the order your own board prints.

Some metals appear on one list only. Lithium is on the AQA list alone. Lead is only on the OCR Twenty First Century list, and gold is only on the Edexcel list.

Where carbon and hydrogen fit

Carbon and hydrogen are non-metals. They sit in the series so you can compare them with the metals. Edexcel places hydrogen between iron and copper. OCR Twenty First Century places it between lead and copper.

Carbon matters for getting metals out of rock. A metal below carbon can be taken from its oxide by heating the oxide with carbon. The carbon removes the oxygen, and losing oxygen is called reduction. Metals above carbon, such as aluminium, are taken out by electrolysis, which splits a compound using electricity.

Gold is so unreactive that it is found in the ground as the metal itself. The KS3 curriculum covers the order of metals and carbon and the use of carbon to get metals from their oxides.

Displacement reactions

A more reactive metal can displace a less reactive metal from a compound. Displace means it takes the other metal's place. Zinc is above copper on every printed list, so zinc can displace copper from a copper compound. Copper cannot do the reverse.

At Higher tier, AQA asks you to write ionic equations for these reactions. An ionic equation shows only the ions that change. The page on balancing equations covers the counting of atoms that every equation needs.

Common mistakes

Thinking a metal left off your board's list does not react. Your board just does not ask about it.
Swapping aluminium and magnesium. Check which order your board uses.
Calling carbon or hydrogen a metal. Both are non-metals placed in the list for comparison.
Mixing up oxidation and reduction. Reduction is the loss of oxygen, and oxidation is the gain of oxygen.

Put the metals in order in Reactivity Rank. More practice sits under chemistry games, and the chemistry hub lists every page in this set.

Questions people ask

Is there a mnemonic for the reactivity series?

You can make one from the first letters of the metals on your board's list. Build it from your own board's order, since the lists differ.

Do reactions with steam come up?

Not for AQA. Its reactions of metals with water and acids are limited to room temperature.

Is the reactivity series on the KS3 curriculum?

Yes. KS3 covers the order of metals and carbon in the series. It does not give a fixed list of metals, so your school chooses which ones to use.