The document describes procedures for identifying an unknown salt sample. Various tests are performed to identify the cation and anion present in the salt. Cation tests include adding reagents like sodium hydroxide, ammonium chloride and ammonium hydroxide to observe color changes or precipitate formation. Anion tests involve adding acids or bases and observing gas evolution or precipitate formation. Confirmatory tests are also outlined to verify the identity of ions like chloride, nitrate, sulfate and acetate. A list of common salts is presented with their chemical formulae and physical states.

1. Salt Analysis
S.no Experiment Observation Inference
1. Preliminary Tests
1) Colour:
Blue or Bluish green, Light Green, Light
pink, Greenish, Pink.
May be Cu+2, Fe+2, Mn+2,
Ni+2, Co+2 Salts.
Colourless Absence of the above salts.
2) Physical state: Crystalline / Amorphous -
3)
Action of heat:
A pinch of salt is taken in a dry
test tube & heated strongly.
White sublimate is formed. May be NH4
+ salt.
Reddish brown vapours are evolved. May be NO3
- salt.
Crackling sound is observed. May be Pb+2 salt.
Characteristic vinegar like smell. May be CH3COO- salt.
Yellow when hot & white when cold. May be Zn+2 salt.
Water drops are formed along the inner
walls of the test tube.
May be hydrated salt.
4)
Flame test:
A paste of salt with Con.HCl is
prepared & put on top of the
flame.
i) Brick red flame May be Ca+2 salt.
ii) Apple green flame May be Ba+2 salt.
iii) Crimson red flame May be Sr+2 salt.
iv) Green flashes May be Zn+2 salt.
v) Dull Bluish White May be Pb+2 salt.
No characteristic flame is observed. Absence of the above salts.
2. Identification of Anion
1)
Test with dil.HCl:
A pinch of salt is taken in a dry test
tube & dil.HCl is added to it.
i) Colourless & Odourless gas of CO2 is
evolved with brisk effervescence which
puts out flame & turns lime water milky.
CO3
-2 may be present.
ii) Colourless vapours of CH3COOH with
vinegar smell are evolved, which turns
blue litmus red.
CH3COO- may be present.
No characteristic reaction was observed. CO3
-2 & CH3COO- (Absent)
2)
Test with Con.H2SO4:
Take a small quantity of salt in a
dry test tube & add Con.H2SO4.
i) Colourless gas with pungent smell (HCl)
is evolved. It produced white dense fumes
when a glass rod dipped in NH4OH is
placed at the mouth of the test tube.
Cl- may be present.
ii) Reddish brown vapours with pungent
smell (Br2) are evolved.
Br- may be present.
No characteristic reaction is observed. Cl- & Br- are absent.
3)
Test with BaCl2:
To the salt solution add BaCl2
solution.
White crystalline precipitate (BaSO4) is
formed.
SO4
-2 may be present.
No precipitate is formed. SO4
-2 is absent.
4)
Test with Con.H2SO4 [Hot Condition]:
Take a small quantity of the salt in a
test tube, add Con.H2SO4 & heat it.
Reddish brown vapours of NO2 are
evolved.
NO3
- may be present.
Reddish brown vapours of NO2 are not
evolved.
NO3
- is absent.
Test with Copper turnings &
Con H2SO4:
Take a small quantity of the salt in
a test tube, add Copper turnings,
Con. H2SO4 & heat it strongly.
Deep reddish brown vapours of NO2 are
evolved & the solution turns pale blue.
NO3
- may be present.
No reddish brown vapours are evolved. NO3
- is absent.

2. 3. Confirmatory tests for Anion
1. Confirmatory tests for Cl- ion
1)
Test with MnO2 & Con.H2SO4:
Take a pinch of salt in a test tube,
add MnO2, Con.H2SO4 & heat it.
Greenish yellow gas of Cl with pungent smell
is evolved which turns moist starch iodide
paper blue.
Cl- is confirmed.
2)
Take salt solution & acidify it with
dil. HNO3 & add AgNO3 solution.
A white curdy precipitate (AgCl) is formed
which is soluble in NH4OH.
Cl- is confirmed.
2. Confirmatory tests for Br- ion
1)
Test with MnO2 & Con.H2SO4:
Take a pinch of salt in a test tube,
add MnO2 & Con.H2SO4
Reddish brown vapours of Br with pungent
smell are evolved which turns starch paper
yellow.
Br- is confirmed.
2)
Take salt solution & acidify it with
dil.HNO3 & add AgNO3 solution.
Pale yellow precipitate (AgBr) is formed
which is partially soluble in NH4OH.
Br- is confirmed.
3. Confirmatory test for NO3
-
1)
Brown ring test:
Take the salt solution in a test tube,
add freshly prepared FeSO4
solution in excess & Con.H2SO4
along the sides of the test tube in
an inclined position.
A dark brown ring is formed at the junction of
the two layers.
NO3
- is confirmed
4. Confirmatory test for CO3
-2
1)
Test with BaCl2:
To the salt solution add BaCl2
solution.
White precipitate(BaCO3) is formed, soluble
in dil.HCl.
CO3
-2 is confirmed.
5. Confirmatory tests for CH3COO-
1)
Test with neutral FeCl3 Sol:
Take the solution in test tube, add
neutral FeCl3 Sol & boil the Sol in
water bath.
Deep in red colour solution is formed. CH3COO- is confirmed.
2)
Esterification:
Take a pinch of salt in a test tube,
add ethyl alcohol (C2H5O),
Con.H2SO4, heat the contents &
pour into a beaker containing H2O.
Pleasant fruity odour (C4H8O2, ethyl acetate)
is observed.
CH3COO- is confirmed.
6. Confirmatory test for SO4
-2
1)
To the salt solution add BaCl2
solution.
The solubility of the precipitate is
tested with Con.HCl.
White crystalline precipitate (BaSO4) is
formed.
The precipitate is insoluble in Con.HCl
SO4
-2 is confirmed.
Acidic Radical / Anion Basic Radical / Cation
CH3COO-
– 4 Pb+2
– 2
NO3
-
– 5 NH4
+
- 5
CO3
-2
– 6 Mg+2
– 3
SO4
-2
– 4 Zn+2
– 6
Cl-
– 5 Ca+2
– 5
Br-
– 4 Ba+2
– 3
Sr+2
– 3
Al+3
– 5

3. 4. Identification of Cation
1)
Analysis of NH4
+
:
Take a small quantity of salt in a test tube,
add NaOH & heat it.
Colourless gas with characteristic NH4
+
smell
is evolved, which gives dense white fumes
when a glass rod dipped in Con.HCl is
brought near the mouth of the test tube.
NH4
+
may be present.
❖ Preparation of Original solution
1) The salt is dissolved in H2O or dil.HCl solvent. Clear & transparent solution is formed. It is Original solution(O.S).
❖ Analysis of Cation groups
1. Analysis of Group – I
1) To the O.S add dil.HCl. White precipitate is formed. Group-I (Pb+2
) is present
2. Analysis of Group – II
1) To the O.S add dil.HCl and pass H2S gas. Black precipitate is formed. Group-II (Cu+2
) is present
3. Analysis of Group – III
1) To the O.S add solid NH4Cl, excess of NH4OH.
White gelatinous precipitate is formed. Group-III (Al+3
) is present.
Light green precipitate is formed. Group-III (Fe+3
) is present.
4. Analysis of Group – IV
1)
To the O.S add solid NH4Cl, excess of NH4OH
and pass H2S gas.
Flesh Coloured precipitate is formed. Group-IV (Mn+2
) is present.
Black precipitate is formed. Group-IV (Ni+2
) is present.
Dull White precipitate is formed. Group-IV (Zn+2
) is present.
5. Analysis of Group – V
1)
To the O.S add solid NH4Cl, excess of NH4OH
& (NH4)2CO3 solution.
White precipitate is formed.
Group - V (Ba+2
, Ca+2
, Sr+2
) is
present.
5. Confirmatory tests for Cation
1. Confirmatory test for NH4
+
1)
To the salt solution add Nessler’s reagent
(K2[HgI4] /Potassium mercuric iodide).
Reddish brown precipitate (NH2HgOHgI, Iodide of
Millon’s base) is formed.
NH4
+
is confirmed.
2. Confirmatory tests for Pb+2
[Group-I]
1)
Dissolve the white precipitate in hot water
& divide it into two parts.
2)
i) To the 1st
part add K2CrO4 solution.
Yellow precipitate is formed which dissolves in
NaOH solution.
Pb+2
is confirmed.
ii) To the 2nd
part add KI solution.
Yellow precipitate is formed which dissolves in hot
water & on cooling the solution forms golden
spangles.
Pb+2
is confirmed.
3. Confirmatory test for Al+3
[Group –III]
1) To the O.S add NaOH solution.
White gelatinous precipitate is formed, which is
soluble in excess of NaOH.
Al+3
is confirmed.
4. Confirmatory test for Zn+2
[Group –IV]
1) To the O.S add NaOH solution.
White precipitate is formed, which is soluble in
excess of NaOH.
Zn+2
is confirmed.
5. Confirmatory tests for Ba+2
, Ca+2
& Sr+2
[Group -V]
1) To the O.S add K2CrO4 solution.
Yellow precipitate (BaClO4) is formed, which is
soluble in Con.HCl.
Ba+2
is confirmed.
Yellow colour is formed. Ca+2
is confirmed.
2)
To the O.S add (NH4)2SO4 solution & warm
it. Scratch the inner sides of the test tube
with a glass rod.
White precipitate is formed. Sr+2
is confirmed.
6. Confirmatory test for Mg+2
[Group –VI]
1) To the O.S add NH4Cl, NH4OH & Na2PO4. White precipitate is formed. Mg+2
is confirmed.

4. List of Common White Salts
S No. Name of the Salt Basic Radical or Cation Acidic Radical or Anion Physical State
1 Lead Nitrate Pb+2
NO3
-
Crystalline
2 Lead Acetate Pb+2
CH3COO-
Crystalline
3 Zinc Carbonate Zn+2
CO3
-2
Crystalline
4 Zinc Nitrate Zn+2
NO3
-
Crystalline
5 Zinc Acetate Zn+2
CH3COO-
Crystalline
6 Zinc Chloride Zn+2
Cl-
Crystalline
7 Zinc Bromide Zn+2
Br-
Crystalline
8 Zinc Sulphate Zn+2
SO4
-2
Crystalline
9 Calcium Carbonate Ca+2
CO3
-2
Cryst or Amor
10 Calcium Chloride Ca+2
Cl-
Crystalline
11 Calcium Bromide Ca+2
Br-
Crystalline
12 Calcium Acetate Ca+2
CH3COO-
Crystalline
13 Calcium Nitrate Ca+2
NO3
-
Amorphous
14 Barium Carbonate Ba+2
CO3
-2
Cryst or Amor
15 Barium Chloride Ba+2
Cl-
Crystalline
16 Barium Nitrate Ba+2
NO3
-
Crystalline
17 Strontium Carbonate Sr+2
CO3
-2
Amorphous
18 Strontium Chloride Sr+2
Cl-
Crystalline
19 Strontium Nitrate Sr+2
NO3
-
Crystalline
20 Magnesium Carbonate Mg+2
CO3
-2
Crystalline
21 Magnesium Acetate Mg+2
CH3COO-
Crystalline
22 Magnesium Sulphate Mg+2
SO4
-2
Crystalline
23 Ammonium Carbonate NH4
+
CO3
-2
Crystalline
24 Ammonium Chloride NH4
+
Cl-
Crystalline
25 Ammonium Bromide NH4
+
Br-
Crystalline
26 Ammonium Nitrate NH4
+
NO3
-
Crystalline
27 Ammonium Sulphate NH4
+
SO4
-2
Crystalline
Pb(NO3)2
(NH4)2CO3
MgSO4
ZnSO4
Ca(NO3)2
BaCl2