Do metals react with acids? If so, what products are most typically formed?

1 Answer
Jul 30, 2017

#"Acid + metal "rightleftharpoons" Metal salt + dihydrogen gas"#

Explanation:

#M(s) + 2HX rarr MX_2(aq) + H_2(g)uarr#

This is in fact an oxidation reaction. Most of the time, especially with earlier metals, the hydrogen ion is oxidizing enough to give dihydrogen gas. The typical metal oxidation state is #+II#.