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Answer 1 · 2014-10-18T17:30:57

There is no reaction between copper and zinc sulfate.

You can explain this by saying that copper is below zinc in the electrochemical series so cannot displace it from a solution of its salt.

At a higher level you can compare electrode potentials:

#Zn_((aq))^(2+)+2erightleftharpoonsZn_((s))# #E^0=-0.76V#

#Cu_((aq))^(2+)+2erightleftharpoonsCu_((s))# #E^0=+0.34V#

From these data you can conclude that zinc will tend to "push out" electrons relative to copper so zinc will reduce copper (II) to copper (0) .

The electronic configuration of copper is #[Ar]3d^(10)4s1#

The electronic configuration of zinc is #[Ar]3d^(10)4s^2#