Question

What is the displacement reaction?
A. A metal replaces non-metal
B. More reactive element displaces a less reactive element
C. Both A and B
D. None of the above

Answer 1

The ions which are dissociated from a specific compound in the reactant are involved in the process of product formation depending on the chemical nature. The chemical nature of the element is important for the reaction and product formation because the formation of compounds depends on the element.

Complete step by step solution:
A displacement reaction is responsible for the ionic exchange from the specific compounds when it comes to conversion of reactants to a product. The compound containing the specific elements has either metal or non-metal present as the bonded structure. The displacement of an element in the reactants takes place so that the resultant product that is formed has a changed element replaced in the compound. The exchange of elements can occur between the metals or non-metals which are part of the reactant molecules and hence the product that is formed from these reactants has a shuffling of the elements.
The process of shuffling of the elements or displacement follows a specific pattern and it is not perfectly random. The compounds of the reactants are dissociated into the specific elements. The element which is more reactive displaces the element which is the least reactive in the compound. This condition occurs because the elements that are more reactive or are present at the top of the activity series have higher chances of formation of a compound than those at the bottom of the activity series. Both the metal and non-metal elements take part in this process, but the replacement of metal by non-metals or vice versa does not take place. This means that the displacement reaction is based on the idea that a more reactive element displaces a less reactive element.

Note:
The displacement reaction and double displacement reactions are common in chemical processes because the more reactive elements have a better chance of forming products. This is because reactive elements when present in ionic form react the fastest with one another resulting in a specific product.