Qualitative Inorganic Analysis
 

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Inorganic analysis

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The purpose of inorganic qualitative analysis is to enable the acquisition of powers of observation and deduction; to help you to learn inorganic reactions; and to develop practical chemical skills.

v    The substances that appear in A level practical examinations may be single compounds or mixtures of compounds, and may contain more than two ions. The cation or the anion may be a complex ion. Familiarity with this material will ensure not only that you can deal with analysis in practical examinations, but that you learn a lot of inorganic chemistry. That is important whether you do your practical module via continuous assessment or in an examination.

Preliminary tests
Cation analysis
Anion analysis


The equations and their use

 

The equations for the reactions are given here since they teach the chemistry; you must take advice from your teacher as to whether these are needed in your particular practical paper.

Purists insist that the aqua ions of transition metals are shown as such in equations, e.g.[Fe(H2O)6]2+ rather than simply Fe2+(aq). It’s worth getting into the habit of doing this. However, since it is a good divine that follows his own instructions, I have ignored my own advice where the equation then becomes unnecessarily complex. This is usually the case with redox reactions involving manganate(VII) or dichromate(VI) ions, where you will find Fe2+(aq) rather than [Fe(H2O)6]
2+