DP Chemistry (first assessment 2025)
Question 19M.2.SL.TZ2.b
Date | May 2019 | Marks available | [Maximum mark: 2] | Reference code | 19M.2.SL.TZ2.b |
Level | SL | Paper | 2 | Time zone | TZ2 |
Command term | Describe | Question number | b | Adapted from | N/A |
b.
[Maximum mark: 2]
19M.2.SL.TZ2.b
Describe how the relative reactivity of rhenium, compared to silver, zinc, and copper, can be established using pieces of rhenium and solutions of these metal sulfates.
[2]
Markscheme
place «pieces of» Re into each solution [✔]
if Re reacts/is coated with metal, that metal is less reactive «than Re» [✔]
Note: Accept other valid observations such as “colour of solution fades” or “solid/metal appears” for “reacts”.
Examiners report
This question was a good discriminator between high-scoring and low-scoring candidates. It was well answered by more than half of the candidates who had obviously carried out such displacement reactions and interpreted the outcomes during the course. Some candidates did not state the obvious of dipping the metal into the sulfates.

Syllabus sections
Reactivity 3. What are the mechanisms of chemical change? » Reactivity 3.2—Electron transfer reactions » Reactivity 3.2.3—The relative ease of oxidation and reduction of an element in a group can be predicted from its position in the periodic table. The reactions between metals and aqueous metal ions demonstrate the relative ease of oxidation of different metals. Predict the relative ease of oxidation of metals. Predict the relative ease of reduction of halogens. Interpret data regarding metal and metal ion reactions.