How to Memorize the Reactivity Series Easily? Is There Any Mnemonic for It?

The reactivity series of metals can be memorised easily by – Please send cats, monkeys and zebras in lovely happy cages made of silver, gold & platinum.

• The metals in the reactivity series are ordered in descending order of reactivity. The phrase “Please bring cats, monkeys, and zebras in charming cheerful cages constructed of silver, gold, and platinum” serves as a helpful mnemonic for the metal reactivity series.

please – potassium(k)

send – sodium(Na)

cats – calcium(Ca)

monkeys – magnesium(Mg)

and – Aluminum(Al)

zebras – zinc(Zn)

in – iron(Fe)

lovely – lead(Pb)

happy – [hydrogen](H)

cages – copper(Cu)

made of – mercury(Hg)

silver – silver(Ag)

gold – gold(Au)

Platinum – Platinum(Pt)

• Metals are arranged in the list according to their degree of reactivity, with the most reactive at the top and the least reactive at the bottom. For instance, magnesium chloride and hydrogen gas are produced when a strip of magnesium is placed in hydrochloric acid (bubbling out). This is what we would anticipate since magnesium is listed on the reactivity chart above hydrogen.
• Notably, the first mnemonic above lists “mercury” as the second “me,” which is unusual. Additionally, take note that several components have been omitted from the mnemonics and that there appears to be some debate over the exact ordering of the reactivity series (for example, calcium is occasionally placed before sodium) (like lithium and hydrogen)