Question

Can the mercury cation (Hg2+) oxidize silver metal to aqueous silver cation? If so, would the reaction equation be as follows:

2 Ag(s) + Hg2+(aq) ---> Hg(l) + 2 Ag+(aq)

Thank you!

Answer 1

Ag(s) ==> Ag^+ + e Eo = -0.799
Hg^2+ + 2e ==> Hg..Eo = +0.789
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2Ag(s) + Hg2^2+ => 2Ag^+ + Hg E = -0.01
If it would oxidize it yes, that would be the reaction; however, you can see that the Eo value is -0.01 so it isn't spontaneous. K for that is about 0.459 so the equilibrium point is to the left in the reaction.

Answer 2

Thanks for the clarification! So besides Mercury, is there any metal cation that can oxidize silver metal to aqueous silver cation?

Answer 3

Here is a copy of the activity series of metals. Any metal ion below Ag should oxidized Ag metal to Ag +1 ion. So Pt and Au ions should do it
https://www.google.com/search?q=activity+series+metals&client=firefox-a&hs=dwv&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&imgil=iBkXzX7JFqX2uM%253A%253Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fencrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com%252Fimages%253Fq%253Dtbn%253AANd9GcTP4f7Kg7BS_09X19Oa3XvBtOr19hJTXLxkT7xQ_c8IKZNwPaFf-w%253B430%253B549%253B2OwpFSfAa4q8sM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.grandinetti.org%25252FTeaching%25252FChem121%25252FLectures%25252FActivitySeries&source=iu&usg=__LInAFLlIqFcdqzwZjb8YYuQiIyw%3D&sa=X&ei=1vdCU6qdNO3jsATo34CICg&ved=0CCwQ9QEwAQ#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=iBkXzX7JFqX2uM%253A%3B2OwpFSfAa4q8sM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.grandinetti.org%252Fresources%252FTeaching%252FChem121%252FLectures%252FActivitySeries%252FActivitySeries.png%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.grandinetti.org%252FTeaching%252FChem121%252FLectures%252FActivitySeries%3B430%3B549