PREPARED BY BINISH CJ, DEPT.

OF CHEMISTRY, CHRIST PU COLLEGE, BANGALORE-74

QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF SIMPLE INORGANIC SALTS
PRELIMINARY TESTS
Experiment Observation Inference
1. Colour Colourless Absence of Cu
2+
,Ni
2+
,Mn
2+
etc
Blue May be Copper (Cu
2+
)

Pink May be Manganese (Mn
2+
)


2.Appearence Crystalline Absence of Carbonate (CO3
2-
)
Amorphous Presence of Carbonate

3. Solubility
a) in Water Soluble Absence of Carbonate
Insoluble Presence of Carbonate
b) in dil HCl Soluble Presence of Carbonate

3.Action of heat
A little of the salt is heated strongly
in a dry test tube
Colourless gas which turns
lime water milky Presence of Carbonate
Smell of Ammonia Presence of Ammonium (NH4
+
)

4. Flame Test
A little of the salt is made as a paste
with Con HCl in a watch glass and a
little of this paste is shown to a non-
luminous flame by a platinum wire Apple green Flame Presence of Barium (Ba
2+
)
Crimson Red flame Presence of Strontium (Sr
2+
)
Brick Red flame Presence of Calcium (Ca
2+
)

5.Ash Test
A little of the salt is heated with
Con HNO3 and cobalt nitrate
solutions and cooled. A filter paper
moistened with this solution is burnt
into ashes



Blue edged ash
Green edged ash

Presence of Aluminium
Presence of Zinc


PREPARED BY BINISH CJ, DEPT. OF CHEMISTRY, CHRIST PU COLLEGE, BANGALORE-74

ANALYSIS OF ANIONS (ACIDIC RADICALS)
Experiment Observation Inference
1. Action of dil. H2SO4
A little of the salt is taken in a test
tube and dil H2SO4 is added
Brisk effervescence with a
colourless gas which turns
lime water milky
Presence of Carbonate

No characteristic reaction Absence of Carbonate


2. A little of the substance is rubbed
with dil H2SO4 in a watch glass
Vinegar smell Presence of Acetate
No vinegar smell Absence of Acetate

3.Action with Con H2SO4
A little of the salt is taken in a test
tube and Con H2SO4 is added
Colourless gas with a
pungent smell giving
dense white fumes with a
glass rod dipped in
ammonium hydroxide
when brought near to the
mouth of the test tube Presence of Chloride (Cl
-
)

Reddish brown gas with a
pungent smell whose
intensity increases on the
addition of MnO2
Presence of Bromide (Br
-
)
The above test tube is heated with
copper turnings
Reddish brown fumes and
the solution acquires a
blue colour
Presence of nitrate (NO3
-
)

4. To a little of the salt solution,
BaCl2 solution is added A white precipitate Presence of Sulphate (SO4
2-
)

Confirmatory Tests for Anions
Experiment Observation Inference
Carbonate (CO3
2-
)
1.To a little of the salt solution,
barium chloride solution is added
White precipitate
Presence of Carbonate is
confirmed
2. A little of the salt id treated with
dil HCl and the evolved gas is
passed through lime water
Lime water turns Milky
Presence of Carbonate is
confirmed

PREPARED BY BINISH CJ, DEPT. OF CHEMISTRY, CHRIST PU COLLEGE, BANGALORE-74

3. A little of the salt is heated
strongly with water in a test tube
No effervescence
Presence of Carbonate is
confirmed



Chloride (Cl
-
)

1. A little of the salt is heated with
Con H2SO4 and a pinch of MnO2 is
added
A greenish yellow gas
with a pungent smell
Presence of Chloride is
confirmed
2.A little of the salt is heated with
dil HNO3,cooled and AgNO3
solution is added
Curdy White Precipitate
soluble in excess
ammonium hydroxide
solution
Presence of Chloride is
confirmed
Bromide (Br
-
)
1. A little of the salt is heated with
Con H2SO4 and a pinch of MnO2 is
added Intense Brown fumes
Presence of Bromide is
confirmed
2.A little of the salt is heated with
dil HNO3,cooled and AgNO3
solution is added
Pale yellow Precipitate
partially soluble in excess
ammonium hydroxide
solution
Presence of Bromide is
confirmed
Nitrate(NO3
-
)

A little of the salt is heated with
Con H2SO4 and is cooled. To this
add freshly prepared ferrous
sulphate solution along the sides of
the test tube
A brown ring is formed at
the junction of the two
layers Presence of Nitrate is
confirmed
Sulphate (SO4
2-
)


1. To a little of the salt solution,
acetic acid and lead acetate
solutions were added White precipitate
Presence of Sulphate is
confirmed
2.A little of the salt solution is
acidified with dil HCl and BaCl2
solution is added
White precipitate
insoluble in Con HCl or
Con HNO3
Presence of Sulphate is
confirmed








PREPARED BY BINISH CJ, DEPT. OF CHEMISTRY, CHRIST PU COLLEGE, BANGALORE-74

ANALYSIS OF CATIONS (BASIC RADICALS)
Preparation of Original Solution
A little of the salt is made as a solution with water/Dil HCl and is used for the analysis of cation

Experiment Observation Inference
Analysis of Group Zero radical
(NH4
+
)

A little of the salt is heated with
NaOH solution and smell is noted
Smell of Ammonia Presence of ammonium (NH4
+
)

No smell of ammonia Absence of ammonium
Confirmatory test for NH4
+


To a little of the salt solution,
Nessler's reagent is added
Brown Precipitate
Presence of ammonium (NH4
+
)
is confirmed


Analysis of Group I radicals
To a little of the original solution,dil
HCl is added
No white precipitate Absence of Group I Cations


Analysis of Group II radicals
To a little of the original solution,dil
HCl is added and H2S gas is passed
No characteristic
precipitate
Absence of Group II Cations

Analysis of Group III radicals
A little of the original solution is
heated with few drops of Con HNO3
and cooled. Small amount of solid
NH4Cl and excess NH4OH solutions
were added
White gelatinous
Precipitate
Presence of Aluminium (Al
3+
)

No white precipitate Absence of Group III cations


Confirmatory Test for Aluminium

Dissolve the white precipitate of
group III in dil HCl and divide into
two parts


a) To one part NaOH is added and
warmed
White gelatinous
precipitate soluble in
excess NaOH
Presence of Aluminium is
confirmed

PREPARED BY BINISH CJ, DEPT. OF CHEMISTRY, CHRIST PU COLLEGE, BANGALORE-74

b) To the second part, add blue litmus
solution and NH4OH is added drop
by drop along the sides of the test
tube
Blue floating mass in the
colourless solution Presence of Aluminium is
confirmed

Analysis of Group IV radicals



To a little of the original solution,
solid NH4Cl, excess NH4OH were
added and H2S gas is passed
White precipitate
Presence of Zinc (Zn
2+
)

Flesh coloured preciptate
Presence of Manganese (Mn
2+
)

Confirmatory Test for Zinc


Dissolve the white precipitate of
group IV in dil HCl by boiling and
divide into two parts


a) To the first part add NaOH
solution
White precipitate
insoluble in excess NaOH
Presence of Zinc is confirmed
b) To the second part NH4OH and
potassium ferrocyanide solutions
were added Bluish white precipitate Presence of Zinc is confirmed
Confirmatory Test for Manganese
Dissolve the flesh coloured
precipitate in dilute HCl by boiling
and add NaOH in excess
White precipitate which
turns brown on keeping
Presence of Manganese is
confirmed

Analysis of Group V radicals
To a little of the original solution,
solid NH4Cl, excess NH4OH and
(NH4)2CO3 solutions were added White Precipitate Presence of group V radicals

Dissolve the precipitate by boiling with minimum amount of acetic acid and divide into three parts

To the first part potassium chromate
solution is added Yellow precipitate Presence of Barium (Ba
2+
)

Confirmatory Test for Barium
A little of the salt is made as a paste
with Con HCl in a watch glass and a
little of this paste is shown to a non-
luminous flame by a platinum wire Apple green flame
Presence of Barium (Ba
2+
) is
confirmed


PREPARED BY BINISH CJ, DEPT. OF CHEMISTRY, CHRIST PU COLLEGE, BANGALORE-74

If barium is absent:-
To the second part, ammonium
sulphate solution is added. Heat and
scratch the sides of the test tube with
a glass rod and cool White Precipitate Presence of Strontium (Sr
2+
)

Confirmatory Test for Strontium
A little of the salt is made as a paste
with Con HCl in a watch glass and a
little of this paste is shown to a non-
luminous flame by a platinum wire Crimson red flame
Presence of Strontium (Sr
2+
) is
confirmed

If Barium and Strontium were
absent:-
To the third part ammonium oxalate
solution is added White Precipitate Presence of Calcium (Ca
2+
)

Confirmatory Test for Calcium
A little of the salt is made as a paste
with Con HCl in a watch glass and a
little of this paste is shown to a non-
luminous flame by a platinum wire Brick red flame
Presence of Calcium (Ca
2+
) is
confirmed

Analysis of Group VI radicals
Test for Magnesium ion (Mg
2+
)
To a little of the original solution,
solid NH4Cl, excess NH4OH and
disodium hydrogen phosphate
solutions were added and the sides of
the test tube is scratched with a glass
rod
White crystalline
precipitate
Presence of Magnesium
(Mg
2+
)

Confirmatory Test for Magnesium
To a little of the salt solution,
magneson reagent followed by NaOH
solutions were added Blue Precipitate
Presence of magnesium is
confirmed


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