When a ribbon of Magnesium is placed in copper sulfate it dissolves and a light orange solid is deposited at the bottom of the test tube. Why does the Magnesium dissolve and why is there a light orange deposit?
Magnesium deplaces copper sulfate to form magesium sulfate and copper, as magnesium is more reactive than copper. Mg + CuSO4 ----> MgSO4 + Cu the light orange solid is actually copper and maybe with some copper oxides over it.
