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Electrochemistry & Redox

Electrochemical Series

A list of redox couples arranged in order of their standard electrode potentials.

Unit V

In depth

Any couple will oxidise the reduced form of a couple below it in the series, so the table predicts at a glance whether a proposed redox reaction is feasible. It also orders metals by reactivity and predicts displacement reactions and which product forms in electrolysis.

Examples in the real world

Copper lies below hydrogen, so it cannot displace hydrogen from acids, unlike zinc which lies above.