Top Metal
AQA GCSE Chemistry 8462 EXAM YEARS 2027-2029 The reactivity series
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Top Metal: build the reactivity series one duel at a time
This free game is part of our AQA GCSE Chemistry (8462) course for exams in EXAM YEARS 2027-2029.
What is the reactivity series?
For AQA GCSE Chemistry (spec point 4.4.1.2), when metals react with other substances the metal atoms form positive ions, and the reactivity of a metal is related to its tendency to form positive ions. Metals can be put in order of reactivity in a reactivity series. You need to be able to place potassium, sodium, lithium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron and copper in order from their reactions with water and dilute acids, and to know that the non-metals carbon and hydrogen are often included too. The full order is potassium, sodium, lithium, calcium, magnesium, carbon, zinc, iron, hydrogen, copper.
Top Metal turns this into a king-of-the-hill contest. On Reactivity Hill, the more reactive a metal is, the higher it stands. Every new metal starts at the bottom and duels its way up: at each step it reacts side by side with the metal on the step above, in two big beakers of the same liquid. You judge the fizz and choose CLIMB if your metal reacts more, or STAY if the other one does. Call it wrong and your metal is knocked off the hill. Little blue + signs stream off every reacting metal, faster for the more reactive ones, so you can see the tendency to form positive ions.
Reactions with cold water and dilute acid
In the Cold water level, potassium, sodium and lithium all fizz on the surface of the water. Potassium is the most violent: it melts, darts about and burns with a lilac flame. Sodium melts into a ball and zooms about. Lithium fizzes quickly but does not melt, and it is the gentlest of the three. Calcium sinks and fizzes steadily, and the water goes cloudy as calcium hydroxide forms. Magnesium reacts extremely slowly, with only a few bubbles after a long time. Zinc, iron and copper show no reaction you can see.
That is why the Dilute acid level switches to dilute hydrochloric acid. Potassium, sodium and lithium are never added to acid in school, because they would react dangerously. Calcium reacts very vigorously, magnesium fizzes quickly and the ribbon soon disappears, zinc gives steady bubbles, iron gives slow bubbles and copper does not react at all. You then place hydrogen by asking one question at each step: does this metal give off hydrogen with dilute acid? Metals above hydrogen do; copper, below it, does not. Carbon takes its place between magnesium and zinc.
Displacement, oxidation and reduction
Metals react with oxygen to produce metal oxides, and these are oxidation reactions because the metals gain oxygen (spec point 4.4.1.1). Reduction is the loss of oxygen. In the Knockout level you watch zinc heated in oxygen turn into zinc oxide, then use the hill itself: a more reactive metal can displace a less reactive metal from a compound, so a metal can only knock out metals below it. Iron in copper sulfate gets a pink-brown coating of copper as the blue colour fades (Fe + CuSO4 → FeSO4 + Cu), but copper cannot knock anything out. Heating magnesium with copper oxide gives a bright glow: copper oxide loses oxygen, so it is reduced, and magnesium gains oxygen, so it is oxidised. Hydrogen passed over hot copper oxide makes copper and water.
The Mystery metals level tests the skill AQA calls deducing an order of reactivity from experimental results. Metals P, Q, R and T have no names, so you can only use the evidence. Each duel runs two displacement tests at once: the strip that gets a coating belongs to the more reactive metal, because it has pushed the other metal out of its solution. Then metals X, Y and Z race in the same dilute acid, and the one that makes the most hydrogen in one minute is the most reactive. Two exam checks cover a results table and how to make the test fair.
How to play Top Metal
Press CLIMB or STAY, use the up and down arrow keys (or W and S), swipe up or down, or tap the metal on the step above to climb. In the Knockout level, tap a compound on the hill or press 1, 2 or 3, and press NONE LEFT (or 0) when the challenger cannot displace any of the metals left. There are five levels: Cold water, Dilute acid, Knockout, Mystery metals and a 70 second Rush where you rebuild the whole hill from memory, carbon and hydrogen included, and everything you place correctly adds 2 seconds. Every wrong call opens a short explanation built from what the two metals did, with a link back to the lesson. A game takes about 8 to 10 minutes, and your best score is saved so you can play again for a higher rank.
Exam tip: when you explain an order of reactivity, link it to the ions: the more reactive metal has a greater tendency to form positive ions. Learn the order with a memory phrase such as Please Stop Letting Cats Make Clumsy Zebras Into Hungry Crocodiles.
Frequently asked questions
What is the order of the reactivity series for GCSE?
From most to least reactive: potassium, sodium, lithium, calcium, magnesium, carbon, zinc, iron, hydrogen, copper. Carbon and hydrogen are non-metals, but they are often included so metals can be compared with them.
Why are some metals more reactive than others?
When metals react, their atoms form positive ions. The reactivity of a metal is related to its tendency to form positive ions: the more easily a metal forms its positive ion, the more reactive it is.
Why does copper not react with dilute acid?
Copper is below hydrogen in the reactivity series. Only metals above hydrogen react with dilute acids to give hydrogen gas, so copper gives no bubbles.
What is a displacement reaction?
A more reactive metal takes the place of a less reactive metal in a compound. For example, iron displaces copper from copper sulfate solution: Fe + CuSO4 → FeSO4 + Cu. Copper cannot displace iron from iron sulfate because it is less reactive.
Is Top Metal free?
Yes. The game is free to play in your browser, with no sign-up. It covers metal oxides and the reactivity series in the AQA GCSE Chemistry course.