What properties could you use to identify salt?

Answer 1

To group a salt into a basic category like sulphate,nitrate,chloride,sulphide or carbonate one can do the following tests REMEMBER: THE TESTS GIVEN BELOW HOLD GOOD FOR ONLY THE GROUPS MENTIONED ABOVE AND PROVIDED THAT THEY ARE DONE IN THE ORDER MENTIONED BELOW 1.add dil. HCl to salt and see whether you get a colourless,odourless gas turning moist red litmus blue and turning lime water milky. if the result of the above is positive then it is a carbonate salt 2.if the salt gives a rotten egg smelling gas when dil.HCl is added,it is a sulphide salt 3.if the salt gives a white precipitate for silvernitrate test then it is a chloride salt.alternatively if the salt gives red orange vapours in chromyl chloride test then it is a chloride salt 4.a salt that gives white precipitate for barium chloride test is a sulphate salt 5.a salt that gives brown ring for the brown ring test and decripitates on heating is a nitrate salt 6.also ammonium salts can be identified by just heating them. an ammonium salt on heating gives pungent smeling gas(NH3) that gives dense white fumes with glass rod dipped in con. HCl(NH4Cl) 7.most of the sulphide and carboate salts are insoluble in water but soluble in HNO3 8.ammonium salts give NH4Cl vapours on heating with NaOH too. 9.nitrate salts give reddish brown gas when heated with copper turnings and con.H2SO4 10. also remember to confirm that the given salt doesn't answer all the above tests