Why should hydrochloric acid not be used instead of nitric acid?
Why should hydrochloric acid not be used instead of nitric acid?
As you said, one cannot add HCl to destroy carbonates in a sample which is to be tested for halide ions. Dilute nitric is the only choice, because you would not use sulfuric acid in the case of halides because (i) your test sample may contain ions which will precipitate with sulfate (Ba, Ag, Pb, Ca etc.).
How is nitric acid different from other strong acids?
As a strong acid, nitric acid completely dissociates its ions in water solution into hydronium (H3O+) and nitrate (NO3−) ions. This means that it is a powerful oxidizing agent because it readily accepts electrons during oxidation-reduction reactions.
Why do we use nitric acid?
Nitric acid is used for the production of ammonium nitrate, a major component of fertilizers. It is also used for producing explosives like nitroglycerin and trinitrotoluene (TNT) and for oxidizing metals.
Why is it necessary to add dilute nitric acid in this test?
Explain why, in a test for halide ions, the sample is acidified with dilute nitric acid first. Carbonate ions also produce a white precipitate with silver nitrate solution. The acid reacts with any carbonate ions present. This removes them, so stopping them giving an incorrect positive result for chloride ions.
Why is nitric acid used in qualitative analysis?
In all cases, dilute nitric acid is added to remove any interfering ions that can form precipitate with the added reagent. For example, any carbonate ions present would react with aqueous silver/barium/lead(II) nitrate to form white precipitate of silver/barium/lead(II) carbonate.
Which one is not a use of nitric acid?
Answer: Nitric acid HNO is generally not used for preparation of original solution in analysis of basic radicals, because it is an oxidising agent which will convert all low oxidation cations into higher one and these cations can not be recognised in presence of this acid.