What happens when a piece of zinc metal is added to copper sulphate solution?

Explanation

The metals zinc and copper are not ionized or dissociated in contact with `H_(2)O`. Both `CuSO_(4) and ZnSO_(4)` are soluble salts, and so they are written in ionic form.
Molecular equation:
`CuSO_(4(aq))+Zn_((s))toCu_((s))+ZnSO_(4(aq))`
Total ionic equation :
`[Cu_((aq))^(2+)+SO_(4(aq))^(2-)]+Zn_((s))toCu_((s))+[Zn_((aq))^(2+)+SO_(4(aq))^(2-)]`
Net ionic equation : `Cu_((aq))^(2+)+Zn_((s))toCu_((s))+Zn_((aq))^(2+)`
In this displacement reaction, the more active metal, zinc, displaces the ions of the less active metal, copper, from its salt solution.