The type of reaction that happens between a zinc metal and a solution of copper (II) chloride would be a single replacement reaction where the zinc atoms would replace or displace the copper metal in the compound. A single replacement reaction would have a general chemical equation as
A + BC = AC + B
The chemical reaction for the reactants given would be:
Zn + CuCl2 = ZnCl2 + Cu
As you can see, the copper is released from the compound by the zinc metal. This happens because zinc atoms are much more reactive than copper. It has the necessary amount of energy for it to displace the copper atoms.
