Name: _________________________ ( ) Class: _________ Group: _________ Date: ___________________

Experiment

 Reference in textbook:
Book 1, Part I
Ch.3, p.14
Experiment 3.5
3.5

Test for the presence of chloride in common

salt
PowerPoint Experiment
video
Objective

To test for the presence of chloride in common salt using silver

nitrate test.

Apparatus and Chemicals

Each group will need:

♦ Safety spectacles ♦ Distilled water in plastic wash bottle
♦ Protective gloves ♦ Dilute nitric acid (1.0 M)
♦ Spatula ♦ Silver nitrate solution in dropping
♦ Dropper bottle (1.0 M)
♦ 7 test tubes in rack and with brush
♦ Sodium chloride solid Chemical disposal:
♦ Potassium chloride solid ♦ Dispose of the wastes into labelled
♦ Sodium sulphate solid waste bottles for different kinds of
♦ Potassium sulphate solid chemicals.
♦ Sodium carbonate solid
Time required:
♦ Potassium carbonate solid
1 period
♦ Common salt

Procedure

Safety precautions
1. Wear protective gloves when handling corrosive chemicals.
2. In case any acid or silver nitrate solution gets into your eyes or onto your
skin, report to your teacher immediately, and wash the affected area under
running water for at least 3 minutes.
3. Silver nitrate solution can cause black stains on your skin. Handle with
care.

CORROSIVE
募壤ㆶ

Dilute nitric acid (1.0 M),

silver nitrate solution (1.0 M)

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Name: _________________________ ( ) Class: _________ Group: _________ Date: ___________________

Experiment
1. (a) Using a spatula, put some sodium chloride into a test tube.
3
Dissolve the solid in about 3 cm of distilled water (Figures 3.10a

3.5
and 3.10b).
spatula

solid sample plastic wash dropper

bottle dilute nitric
acid

distilled
water

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 3.10

3
Caution (b) Add 2 cm of dilute nitric acid to the test tube. Make sure that the
dropper does not touch the test tube (Figure 3.10c).
Wear protective
gloves when handling (c) Record your observation in Table 3.2.
dilute nitric acid and
silver nitrate solution. 2. (a) Add a few drops of silver nitrate solution to the resultant solution
in step 1. N1
(b) Record your observations in Table 3.2.
Note 1
Make sure the dropper does
not touch the test tube. 3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 with other compounds in Table 3.2 and common
salt in turn. Use a clean test tube for each compound.

Observations
Compound Further addition of
Adding dilute nitric acid
silver nitrate solution

Sodium chloride no observable changes white precipitate forms

Potassium chloride no observable changes white precipitate forms

Sodium sulphate no observable changes no observable changes

Potassium sulphate no observable changes no observable changes

effervescence occurs; the gas

Sodium carbonate no observable changes
produced is colourless
effervescence occurs; the gas
Potassium carbonate no observable changes
produced is colourless

Common salt no observable changes white precipitate forms

Table 3.2

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 Name: _________________________ ( ) Class: _________ Group: _________ Date: ___________________
Experiment

Summary
3.5

4. Solutions of chlorides give a white precipitate when dilute

nitric acid is added first, followed by silver nitrate solution. This is a
Note 2 test for the presence of chloride in a sample. N2
Dilute nitric acid but not
other acids, is used to
5. The common salt contains chloride .
eliminate interference by
other anions because:
2+
(i) If H2SO4 is added, Ca ,
2+ 2+
Ba and Pb may also Questions
give a white precipitate.
(ii) If HCl is added, then the 6. What is the white precipitate formed in the silver nitrate test of
sample under test is
contaminated with Cl
– common salt?
that gives an insoluble
white precipitate with
Silver chloride
AgNO3, the test agent
itself. 7. What is the purpose of adding dilute nitric acid to the sample in the
silver nitrate test?
This is to remove carbonate and sulphite that may be present in the

sample, which can also form a white precipitate with silver nitrate

solution.

Related exercise in textbook

Book 1

Chapter 3 exercise p.24 Q22

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