Reaction types

This is the chemical reaction between sodium hydroxide and aluminum. All you have to do is put sodium hydroxide in a beaker, fill it with about 100-150mL of water, and roll up aluminum foil and put it in the beaker. It is a single replacement reaction which means one single metallic  element (aluminum) replaces another element in a compound (sodium). The equations for this reaction are as follows:
•Sodium Hydroxide + Aluminum -> Sodium + Aluminum Hydroxide
•Na(OH)2 + Al -> Na + Al (OH)2
In this reaction, we observed bubbles so violent that the ball of aluminum foil moved around the beaker violently. Sodium gas was released in bubbles, and the beaker became very hot. Many experimental errors occured in this lab. For one thing, our original single replacement reaction did not work. When we started this lab, our first single replacement was going to be Silver Nitrate + Nickel, but we did not realized that silver is more reactive than nickel. Needless to say, they did not react. For any reaction you do, you have to check to make sure the reaction will work before you do the experiment. It saves a lot of time and chemicals. Also, make sure you balance all of your equations!!