CuO reacts with HCl but Cu does not, why?A.Copper has a higher reduction potential than hydrogen, it does not react with non – oxidising acids like HCl.B.Copper has a lower reduction potential than hydrogen, it does not react with non – oxidising acids like HCl.C.Copper is a less reactive metal, hence does not react with any acidD.Both Cu and CuO do not react with HCl.

The correct answer is A. Copper has a higher reduction potential than hydrogen, it does not react with non – oxidising acids like HCl.

Here’s the reasoning:

Copper (Cu) has a higher reduction potential than hydrogen (H₂), which means that copper is less likely to lose electrons compared to hydrogen. In simpler terms, copper is less reactive than hydrogen. Due to this, copper metal does not react with non-oxidizing acids like hydrochloric acid (HCl) because HCl cannot oxidize copper. Non-oxidizing acids are not strong enough to oxidize metals like copper that have a higher reduction potential than hydrogen.

CuO reacts with HCl because CuO is a compound where copper is already in an oxidized state (Cu²⁺). In this reaction, HCl acts as an acid providing H⁺ ions to react with the oxide (O²⁻) ions in CuO to form water and dissolve the copper ions into the solution: Here, HCl is effective in breaking down the CuO compound because it is reacting with the oxide ions (O²⁻), not reducing the copper metal itself.

To summarize, copper metal does not react with HCl due to its higher reduction potential compared to hydrogen, making HCl (a non-oxidizing acid) ineffective in oxidizing copper.