Aluminum Foil in Copper ii Chloride

In the video above, and time lapse is shown of an experiment we performed in class.  By placing 1.25g of copper ii chloride in 40mL of water, we formed a solution. The copper and chlorine dissolved into the water because the molecule is an ionic bond. We knew it was an ionic bond because copper is a metal and chlorine is a non-metal. After the solution was formed, we placed a piece of aluminum into the beaker. The aluminum then begins to replace the copper in the solution, dissolving the aluminum, forming the copper solid at the bottom, and changing the solution into aluminum-chloride. This is called a single-replacement reaction. The pictures below can help give a better understanding of this.

Aluminum Foil in the Copper ii Chlroide (before and after)

  

Here you can see the different amounts of copper ii chloride in 40 mL of water and how the more copper ii chloride there is, the faster the aluminum replaces the copper.

Here is a single-replacement reaction formula. For our experiment, it would be Cu2Cl +  Al produces Cu2 + AlCl

When the aluminum(red) is placed in the copper ii chloride and water solution, the aluminum replaces the copper(green) because it is more reactive. This is called a single replacement reaction. The copper then forms a solid in the solution.

Here is what the solution looks like after completed. The copper has settled at the bottom and the aluminum has dissolved into the solution, forming aluminum-chloride 

Our reaction and a visual representation of what was happening with the atoms.

This is a before and after of what will happen to each solution. The bottom row shows the copper and aluminum reaction still replacing each other. The top rows shows the copper settled at the bottom and no more aluminum left.