[profluent]

We just did a lab on chemical reactions with group 1a and 2a metals as well as a few transitional metals including copper and tin. Our lab was on chemical reactions to better understand ionization energy.

My question is why would Magnesium react with HCl while Tin does not? I saw online that tin does (or can) react with HCl, but we didn't see any evidence of a reaction in our experiment. In terms of ionization energy, it seems that because tin has a lower ionization energy, it should have a more violent reaction than Magnesium. Please explain. Thanks.

[Alberto_Kravina]

Was it concentrated HCl or diluited? If it was diluited, what concentration did the acid have?  

[sdekivit]

it depends on the strength of the reductors Mg and Sn.

--> Mg is a stronger reductor then Sn ( compare standard electrode potential -2,37 V with -0,14)

in general when the difference between oxidator and reductor lies between -0,3V and +0,3 V an equilibrium occurs (the case with Sn) and when the difference is bigger then +0,3V the reaction will be completely (case with Mg)

--> Mg will give a better reaction than Sn indicating more bubbles of H2-gas.