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Simple chemical tests

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What is chemical analysis?
During a chemical analysis scientists aim to identify an
unknown substance. There are two major analytical methods:

Chemical techniques: an unknown substance is reacted with

a range of different substances. The substance is identified by
characteristic reactions, such as those that produce a colour
or state change.

Instrumental techniques: an unknown substance is analysed

using scientific instruments, which provide numerical data on
the substance or its properties. This allows it to be identified.

Chemical techniques often destroy the test substance in a

reaction, so a large sample is needed. This is not the case
for instrumental techniques.

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Qualitative or quantitative?
A qualitative analysis obtains non-numerical information
about a substance and its properties.
A quantitative analysis obtains numerical measures of a
substance and its properties.
Both can be used to identify an unknown substance.
In general, chemical techniques tend to be qualitative, while
instrumental techniques tend to be quantitative.
Modern chemists tend to use
instrumental techniques to identify
compounds, as they are very
accurate and preserve the original
sample, unlike chemical
techniques.

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How do you perform qualitative analysis?
When carrying out any analysis, it is crucial to carefully plan
your method, ensuring every test improves your knowledge.
Chemical tests can be split into two groups:
 general tests – these help you to
identify the nature of the chemical.
Is it acid or alkali; covalent or ionic?
 specific tests – these identify the
molecules that make up a substance.
General tests should be used early in your
analysis. They should be informative, whatever
the result, helping to narrow down your search.
A specific test should be unique for that
substance to prevent confusing results.
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General tests
What tests would you use to classify a substance into the
following categories?

Ionic or Ionic substances conduct electricity

covalent: when liquid or when in solution, unlike
covalent compounds.

Acid or universal indicator

base:
neutralization: acid + base → salt + water
Acids will react with most metals to
produce hydrogen gas.
Reactivity: If you have a reactivity series, displacement
reactions could be used to give a clearer idea
of the metal present in an ionic compound.
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Acids and alkalis
There are many ways to test a substance’s acidity, universal
indicator being the most straight forward and informative.
Identifying the pH of a mystery substance can act as both a
general and specific test:
 General – knowing the pH
gives you a much smaller
range of options for the
substance’s identity.
 Specific – a low pH
indicates the presence of H+
ions, while a high pH reveals
the presence of OH– ions in Hydrochloric acid (HCl) in
solution. solution, showing free H+ ions.

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pH as an indicator

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Precipitation reactions
An insoluble solid that forms during an aqueous reaction is
called a precipitate. A reaction which forms a precipitate is
called a precipitation reaction.
The limewater test for carbon dioxide is a precipitation reaction.
Limewater is actually a dilute
solution of calcium hydroxide.
The calcium hydroxide reacts with
carbon dioxide to form calcium
carbonate, which is insoluble in water:

calcium carbon calcium

hydroxide
+ + water
dioxide carbonate

Ca(OH)2 + CO2 CaCO3 + H2O

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Uses of precipitation reactions
Most precipitation reactions are very
fast reactions that occur between ions.
This makes them very useful for
identifying specific ions based on the
type of precipitate formed.
Precipitation reactions have a
number of other uses:
 production of coloured pigments
for paints and dyes
 removal of toxic chemicals
from water
 separation of reaction products. A lead iodide precipitate.

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State symbols

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Isolating the precipitate
The precipitate from a precipitation
reaction can be separated from the
reaction mixture by filtration.

A Buchner funnel and

Buchner vacuum flask can be used to
funnel pump accelerate the process.
filter paper
This apparatus uses a
vacuum pump to draw the
mixture through the filter.

Buchner
The filtrate is finally
flask
washed and dried.

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Spectator ions
In ionic precipitation reactions there are often ions that are not
involved in the reaction. These are known as spectator ions.

NaI (aq) + AgNO3 (aq) AgI (s) + NaNO3 (aq)

The spectator ions are easily identified using the ionic equation.
Na+ (aq) + I– (aq) + Ag+ (aq) + NO3– (aq)
AgI (s) + Na+ (aq) + NO3– (aq)
This equation shows that the silver and the iodine ions have
reacted, joining together to make the precipitate.
The sodium (Na+) and nitrate (NO3–) ions are spectator ions.
This means the ionic equation can be simplified to:
I– (aq) + Ag+ (aq) AgI (s)
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Which ions are spectators?

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Making fireworks
Many metal ions are used to give colour to fireworks.

Metal ions can be identified by the

unique colours of their flames.
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How do flame tests work?

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How to carry out a flame test

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Identifying metal ions

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Identifying positive ions
Many metal ions can be identified by flame tests.

However, precipitation reactions can also be used to identify

positive ions, as many metals form hydroxide precipitates
with characteristic colours.

For example, when sodium hydroxide solution is added to a

solution of iron (III) chloride, the reaction produces a brown
precipitate of iron (III) hydroxide.

iron (III) sodium iron (III) sodium

chloride
+ hydroxide hydroxide
+ chloride

FeCl3 (aq) + 3NaOH (aq) Fe(OH)3 (s) + 3NaCl (aq)

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Identifying positive ions: metals

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Identifying positive ions: ammonium
The ammonium ion (NH4+) is a positive
non-metal ion. It is found in substances
like ammonium chloride (NH4Cl).
The ammonium ion can be identified
by adding sodium hydroxide solution.

NH4+ + OH– NH3 + H2O

Heating the mixture produces ammonia

gas, which turns red litmus paper blue.
This reaction can also be used as a test
for hydroxide ions: addition of ammonium
chloride will produce ammonia gas in the
presence of hydroxide ions.

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Summary – identifying positive ions

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Identifying negative ions: carbonate
Carbonates, which contain the CO32– ion, are identified by
the addition of a few drops of dilute hydrochloric acid.
A colourless gas is given off as the carbonate ions react with
the hydrogen ions.

The ionic equation for this reaction is:

CO32– (aq) + 2H+ (aq) CO2 (g) + H2O (l)

How would you check the limewater:

identity of the gaseous goes cloudy
product? with CO2

What are the other products of this reaction?

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Identifying negative ions: sulfite
To identify the sulfite ion (SO32–), add a small amount of
dilute hydrochloric acid.

The acidic gas, sulfur dioxide, is produced when the sulfite

ions react with the acid’s hydrogen ions.

The ionic equation for this reaction is: blue litmus

paper

SO32– (aq) + 2H+ (aq) SO2 (g) + H2O (l)

How could you show that the gas is acidic?

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Identifying negative ions: nitrate
The nitrate ion (NO3–) can be identified by heating the solution
with aluminium powder and sodium hydroxide solution.

The aluminium reduces the nitrate ion to ammonia on heating.

This is released as a gas and can be easily identified.

The ionic equation for this reaction is:

3NO3– (aq) + 8Al (s) + 5OH– (aq) + 18H2O (l)

3NH3 (g) + 8Al(OH)4– (aq)

How could you confirm that the gas given off is ammonia?

How can you tell that this is a reduction reaction?

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Identifying negative ions: sulfate
Sulfate ions (SO42–) are identified by adding a few drops of
barium chloride solution. The solution must be acidified first
with a few drops of hydrochloric acid.

A white precipitate of barium sulfate forms.

sodium barium barium sodium

sulfate
+ chloride sulfate
+ chloride

Na2SO4 (aq) + BaCl2 (aq) BaSO4 (s) + 2NaCl (aq)

The ionic equation for this reaction is:

SO42– (aq) + Ba2+ (aq) BaSO4 (s)

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Chemical analysis

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Identifying negative ions: halides
Halide ions are formed from the Group VII elements, the
halogens. Halides are detected using silver nitrate solution.
The substance to be tested is first acidified with a small
amount of nitric acid before adding the silver nitrate solution.
If halides are present, a precipitate will form.
The precipitates formed are silver halides:

sodium silver silver sodium

+ +
chloride nitrate chloride nitrate

NaCl (aq) + AgNO3 (aq) AgCl (s) + NaNO3 (aq)

Cl– (aq) + Ag+ (aq) AgCl (s)

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Silver halides
The different silver halide precipitates can be distinguished
by their differing colours.
chloride bromide iodide

white AgCl cream AgBr yellow AgI

precipitate precipitate precipitate

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Silver halides and photography

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Summary – identifying negative ions

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Glossary

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Summary of chemical techniques

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Anagrams

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Multiple-choice quiz

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