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Answer 1 · 2015-05-13T12:26:56

Zinc reacts with hydrochloric acid to produce hydrogen gas because it's more reactive than hydrogen, and thus displaces the latter from an acid.

By comparison, copper cannot displace hydrogen from #HCl# because it's less reactive than hydrogen.

So, zinc will react with hydrochloric acid to produce zinc chloride and hydrogen gas

#Zn_((s)) + 2HCl_((aq)) -> ZnCl_(2(aq)) + H_(2(g))#

Zinc will reduce the hydrogen and get oxidized in the process.

In copper's case, no reaction takes place when you place it in hydrochloric acid

#Cu_((s)) + HCl_((aq)) -> color(red)("NO REACTION")#

The video shows an experiment to determine the placement of three different metals (Cu, Zn and Mg) on the activity series.

Video from: Noel Pauller