According to the electrochemical series, any metal with higher reactivity can be oxidised, whilst it reduces and displaces a lesser reactive metal from its soluble salt compounds. For the displacement reaction to occur, the target species must be less reactive . For instance, by reacting with zinc solid Zn(s) (reducing agent), Cu 2+ of CuSO4 (oxidising agent) accepts electrons donated by the Zn(s) and transitions accordingly from its aqueous state to a solid state, as shown in the following equations :