GENERAL PROCEDURE FOR THE SYSTEMATIC

ANALYSIS OF A SIMPLE SALT

I.PRELIMINARY TESTS
S.NO EXPERIMENT OBSERVATION INFERENCE
1 SOLUBILITY: 1)Soluble May be the presence of
A little of salt is Sulphate, Nitrate,
shaken with Chloride or Ammonuim
water Carbonate
2)Insoluble May be the presence of
Carbonate or Sulphide
2 ACTION OF 1)Colourless, odourless May be the presence of
HEAT: gas turning Lime Water Carbonate.
A small amount Milky.
of the salt is 2)Drecipitation occurs May be the Presence of
heated gently in with the evolution of Nitrate.
a dry test tube reddish brown gas.
3)Salt sublimes with the May be the Presence of
evolution of pungent Ammonium.
smelling gas giving dense
white fumes with a glass
rod dipped in conc.HCl
4)The white salt turns May be the Presence of
yellow on heating. Zinc
5)No characteristic Absence of Carbonate,
change. Nitrate, Ammonium and
Zinc.
3 FLAME TEST: 1)Bluish color flame. May be the Presence of
A small amount Copper.
of the salt is
made into a 2)Brick red flame. May be the Presence of
paste with Calcium.
conc.HCl in a
watch glass and 3)Grassy green flame. May be the Presence of
introduced into Barium.
the non-
Luminous part 4)No characteristic Absence of Copper,
of the Bunsen colored flame formed. Calcium and Barium.
flame.
4 ASH TEST: 1)Green ash. May be the Presence of
A filter is soaked Zinc.
into a paste of 2)Blue ash. May be the Presence of
the salt with Aluminium.
conc.Hcl/HNO3 3)Pink ash. May be the Presence of
and cobalt Magnesium.
Nitrate solution 4)No characteristic Absence of Zinc,
in a watch glass coloured ash if obtained. Aluminium and
and burnt. Magnesium.
 II.TESTS FOR ACID AND RADICALS

S.NO EXPERIMENT OBSERVATION INFERENCE

5 ACTION OF 1)Brisk effervescence of colourless, Presence of
DIL.HCL: odourless gas turning Lime Water Carbonate is
To a small Milky. confirmed.
amount of 2)Rotten egg smelling gas turning Presence of
dilute HCl the Lead acetate paper black. Sulphide is
salt is added. confirmed.
3)No characteristic change. Absence of
Sulphide and
Carbonate.
6 COPER 1)Reddish brown gas is evolved. May be the
TURNINGS Presence of
TEST: Nitrate.
A small 2)No Reddish brown gas is evolved. Absence of
amount of Nitrate.
the salt is
heated with
Copper
Turnings/
Filter paper
ball and a few
drops of
conc.H2SO4.
7 CHROMYL 1)Red orange vapours evolved are Presence of
CHLORIDE passed through water to get a yellow Chloride is
TEST: solution, which on adding Lead confirmed.
To small Acetate forms a Yellow Precipitate.
amount of 2)No Red orange vapours. Absence of
the salt a Chloride.
pinch of
Potassium
Dichromate
is added and
heated with
few drops of
conc.H2SO4
8 ACTION OF 1)Pungent smelling gas forming May be the
NaOH: dense white fumes with a glass rod Presence of
A small dipped in conc.HCl and also turns red Ammonium.
amount of Litmus paper Blue.
the salt is 2)No pungent smelling gas. Absence of
heated with Ammonium
NaOH.
 III. TESTS WITH SODIUM CARBONATE EXTRACT
PREPARATION OF SODIUM CARBONATE EXTRACT:
A small amount of salt is mixed with twice the amount of Sodium
Carbonate and 20ml of distilled water is added, boiled for 10 minutes,
cooled and filtered. The filterate is called “SODIUM CARBONATE
EXTRACT”.
S.NO EXPERIMENT OBSERVATION INFERENCE
10 BARIUM 1)A white precipitate Presence of
CHLORIDE TEST: insoluble in conc.HCl Sulphate is
To a few drops of confirmed.
the extract, dilute
HCl is added until
the effervescence 2)No white precipitate is Absence of
ceases and 2ml of obtained Sulphate.
BaCl2 solution is
added

11 SILVER NITRATE 1)A curdy white Presence of

TEST: precipitate, soluble in Chloride.
To a few drops of excess of ammonium
the ectract hydroxide.
dil.HNO3 is added 2)A black precipitate. Presence of
until the Sulphide.
effervescence
ceases and 2ml of
3)No precipitate is obtained. Absence of
AgNO3 solution is
Chloride and
added.
Sulphide.
12 BROWN RING 1)Brown ring is formed at Presence of
TEST: the junction of the two Nitrate is
To a few drops of layers. confirmed.
extract dil.H2SO4
is added until the
effervescence
ceases, then 2)No brown ring is formed. Absence of
freshly prepared Nitrate.
FeSO4 is added
drop by drop along
the sides of the test
tube.
 IV.IDENTIFICATION OF THE BASIC RADICAL
PREPARATION OF ORIGINAL SOLUTION:
The original solution is prepared by dissolving the salt in ______
GROUP IDENTIFICATION
ZERO GROUP
S.NO EXPERIMENT OBSERVATION INFERENCE
01 To a few drops of the Reddish Brown Presence of Zero
original solution precipitate. Group
Sodium Hydroxide (Ammonium)
and Nessler’s reagent
are added.
02 1)White precipitate. Presence of First
To a few drops of the Group (Lead)
original solution 2ml
2)No characteristic Absence of First
of Dil.HCl is added.
preicipitate is obtained. Group (Lead)
03 1)Gelatinous White Presence of
To a few drops of the precipitate. Third Group
original solution 1ml (Aluminium).
NH4Cl and 2ml
NH4OH solutions are 2)No characteristic Absence of Third
added. precipitate is obtained. Group
(Aluminium)

04 1)Dirty White Presence of

To a few drops of the precipitate. Fourth Group
original solution 1ml (Zinc).
NH4Cl and 2ml
NH4OH solutions are
added H2S gas is 2)No characteristic Absence of
passed. precipitate is obtained. Fourth Group
(Zinc).

05 1)White Precipitate. Presence of Fifth

To a few drops of the Group (Calcium
original solution 1ml and Barium).
NH4Cl , 2ml NH4OH
 and 2ml (NH4)2CO3 2)No characteristic Absence of Fifth
solutions are added precipitate is obtained. Group (Calcium
and Barium).

06 1)White Precipitate. Presence of

To a few drops of the Sixth Group
original solution 1ml (Magnesium).
NH4Cl , 2ml NH4OH
and 2ml Dil.Na2HPO4
are added. 2)No characteristic Absence of Sixth
precipitate is obtained. Group
(Magnesium).

V. CONFIRMATORY TESTS FOR BASIC RADICAL

S.NO EXPERIMENT OBSERVATIONS INFERENCE
ZERO GROUP – AMMONIUM
1 To a few drops of the Reddish Brown Presence
original solution precipitate. Ammonium is
 Sodium Hydroxide confirmed.
and Nessler’s
reagent are added.
FIRST GROUP - LEAD
1 To a few drops of the Yellow precipitate. Presence Lead is
original solution confirmed.
 Potassium Chromate
is added.
2 To a few drops of the Yellow precipitate Presence Lead is
original solution soluble in hot water confirmed.
Potassium Iodide is which reappears as
added. golden yellow spangles on
cooling.

THIRD GROUP – ALUMINIUM

1 To a few drops of the White precipitate Presence
original solution soluble in excess of Aluminium is
Sodium Hydroxide is Sodium Hydroxide. confirmed.
added in drops to
excess.
2 To a few drops of the A bright red lake. Presence
original solution Aluminium is
 Ammonium confirmed.
Hydroxide and
 Aluminon reagent
are added.
FOURTH GROUP – ZINC
1 To a few drops of the White Precipitate Presence Zinc is
original solution soluble in excess of confirmed.
 Sodium Hydroxide is Sodium Hydroxide.
added in drops to
excess.
2 To a few of original White precipitate Presence Zinc is
solution Potassium soluble in excess of confirmed.
ferrocyanide is added. Sodium Hydroxide &
insoluble in Dilute Acid.
FIFTH GROUP – CALCIUM
1 To a few drops of the No precipitate. Presence
original solution Calcium is
Potassium Chromate confirmed.
is added.
2 To a few drops of the White precipitate Presence
original solution insoluble in Acetic Acid. Calcium is
 Ammonium confirmed.
Hydroxide and
Ammonium Oxalate
are added.
FIFTH GROUP – BARIUM
1 To a few drops of the Yellow precipitate Presence Barium
original solution soluble in Acid. is confirmed.
Potassium Chromate
is added.
2 To a few drops of the White precipitate Presence Barium
original solution insoluble in Acetic Acid. is confirmed.
 Dilute Sulphuric
Acid is added.

SIXTH GROUP – MAGNESIUM

1 To a few drops of the White precipitate Presence
original solution insoluble in excess of Magnesium is
Sodium Hydroxide is Sodium Hydroxide. confirmed.
added in drops to
excess.
2 To a few drops of the Blue precipitate. Presence
original solution Magnesium is
 Magneson reagent is confirmed.
added.
RESULT:
The given simple salt contains
BASIC RADICAL :

ACIDIC RADICAL :