Chemical Tests Flashcards
test for chlorine
chlorine bleaches damp blue litmus paper, turning it white. (it may turn red for a moment first though - thats because a solution of chlorine is acidic)
how can you show whether a sample of water is pure?
- pure = one substance, which means SET physical properties like boiling and freezing point
- water boils at 100 and freezes at 0. if it boils over a range of temps it is impure
how can you test for the presence of water?
- when copper(II) sulphate is bound to water it forms lovely blue crystals
- if you heat the blue hydrated copper(II) sulphate crystals it drives the water off
- this leaves a white anhydrous copper(II) sulphate copper sulphate powder, which doesn’t have any water bound to it.
- if you add a couple of drops of water to the white powder you get the blue crystals back again
- if you want to test for water, add water to anhydrous copper(II) sulphate and see if it turns blue.
- this will tell you if water is present but not if its pure
how can you test for halides?
- halides = Cl-, Br-, I-
- add dilute nitric acid (HNO3) followed by silver nitrate solution.
- a CHLORIDE ion gives a WHITE precipitate of silver chloride
- a BROMIDE ion gives a CREAM precipitate of silver bromide
- an IODIDE ion gives a YELLOW precipitate of silver iodide
how can you test for sulphates?
- sulphate ions produce a white precipitate
- add dilute HCl, followed by barium chloride solution BaCl2
- a white precipitate of barium sulphate means the original compound was a sulphate
how can you test for carbonates?
- add dilute hydrochloric acid to your test sample
- if carbonates (CO32-) are present then carbon dioxide will be released
- you can test for carbon dioxide using limewater
how can you test for the cation Fe3+?
- add a few drops of sodium hydroxide solution to a solution of your mystery compound in a test tube.
- if you get a coloured insoluble hydroxide you can then tell which metal was in the compound
- iron (III) should be REDDISH BROWN
how can you test for the cation Fe2+?
- add a few drops of sodium hydroxide solution to a solution of your mystery compound in a test tube.
- if you get a coloured insoluble hydroxide you can then tell which metal was in the compound
- iron (II) should be SLUDGY GREEN
how can you test for the cation Cu2+?
- add a few drops of sodium hydroxide solution to a solution of your mystery compound in a test tube.
- if you get a coloured insoluble hydroxide you can then tell which metal was in the compound
- copper (II) should be BLUE precipitate
how can you test for the cation NH4+?
- first test for ammonia gas using damp red litmus paper. if theres ammonia present it will turn blue
- then test whether a substance contains ammonium ions (NH4+).
- add some sodium hydroxide to a solution of the mystery substance in a test tube. if theres ammonia gas given off (which smells like cat wee) this means there are ammonium ions in the substance
what colour does the cation COPPER burn with?
BLUE-GREEN
what colour does the cation CALCIUM burn with?
ORANGE-RED
what colour does the cation POTASSIUM burn with?
LILAC
what colour does the cation SODIUM burn with?
YELLOW
what colour does the cation LITHIUM burn with?
RED