Copper is less reactive than hydrogen then why does it displace hydrogen in the reaction of sulphuric acid but not in the reaction of HCL?

In displacement reaction, more reactive metal displaces less reactive metal. As copper is less reactive than hydrogen hence cannot displace hydrogen in dilute hydrochloric acid or dilute sulphuric acids (non-oxidizing acids).

But concentrated sulphuric acid itself is an oxidizing agent, hence it gives Redox reaction with copper, here Cu is oxidized to Cu²⁺ and SO₄^2- is reduced to SO₂.

The chemical equation for the reaction is given below:

$Cu + 2H_2SO_4 \rightarrow CuSO_4 + SO_2 + 2H_2O$ 

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Updated on: 10-Oct-2022

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