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It is an area in chemistry that tells you what is present, but not the quantity of the
substance which is present.
Background:
An atom which gains an electron ,becomes a negatively charged anion .e.g. ( Cl-, Br-.)
An atom which loses an electron, becomes a positively charged cation e.g. ( Na+, Zn++, Ca++..)
A cation and an anion will be attracted together resulting in the formation of an ionic
compound e.g. salts ( NaCl, NaNO3 , Na I , Na Br ..)
A salt is composed of positive ions that constitute the basic radical and negative ions that
constitute the acid radical. For example NaCl consists of Na+ ( basic radical ) and Cl - ( acid
radical )
Objective of lab
This lab aims at qualitatively identifying some acid radicals which is present in salts by means
of certain reagents.
Acids differ in their degree of stability , some acids are unstable such as HNO 2 , HCO3 , H2SO3
and these acids are not found in your laboratory , others are more stable such as H 2SO4
As a general rule :
Stable acids + Salt of less stable acid Salt of the stable acid + less stable acid
According to their acid stability, Acid radicals are classified into 3 groups
Thiosulphate ( S2O3- -)
In group I and II : Gases will evolve in Dry test and in the Wet test, ppt is formed or color
of solution is changed
Note :
An acid from the second grp can displace an acid from the first grp from its salts. An acid
from the third group can displace an acid from the second or from the first group from its
salts. However, any acids of the first and the second groups cannot affect salts of acids of the
third group.
We start by the dry test then confirm our results by the wet test.
SO2 gas is a colorless gas so if we add drps of orange potassium dichromate it will
Reactions with AgNO3 ( study the name and color of ppt formed )
Oxidation & Reduction reactions ( KI and KMnO4 ) ( what happened to the color of
solution of nitrite and sulphite upon addition of KI and/or KMnO 4 )