Three test tubes contain hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid solutions.

Three test tubes contain hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid solutions. How to determine the contents of each of the tubes?

The test tubes contain acids – hydrochloric and sulfuric – and alkali – sodium hydroxide.

Acids and alkalis tend to discolor the indicators.

We put a litmus paper into each test tube. In a test tube with acid, it will turn red, and in a test tube with alkali NaOH, it will turn blue.

To distinguish in which test tube sulfuric and hydrochloric acids, we add barium chloride.

In a test tube with sulfuric acid, a white precipitate will form – barium sulfate; in a test tube with hydrochloric acid, the reaction will not occur.

H2SO4 + BaCl2 = BaSO4 + 2HCl.



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