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and odor.
Ignition Test
Procedure for Ignition Test
Place a 10-mg sample of the substance in a porcelain crucible lid (or any piece of
porcelain) and bring the sample to the edge of a flame to determine flammability.
Heat the sample gently over a low flame, behind a safety shield. Heat the sample
until ignition has occurred.
Note:
(1) the flammability and nature of the flame (is the compound explosive?);
(2) whether the compound is a solid, whether it melts, and the manner of its melting;
(3) the odor of the gases or vapors evolved (caution!);
(4) the residue left after ignition.
Allow the lid to cool. Add a drop of distilled water. Test the solution with litmus paper.
Add a drop of 10% hydrochloric acid. Note whether a gas evolves. Perform a flame test,
with a platinum wire, on the hydrochloric acid solution to determine the metal present.
an aromatic hydrocarbon (which has a relatively high carbon content) burns with
a yellow, sooty flame.
Aliphatic hydrocarbons burn with flames that are yellow but much less sooty.
As the oxygen content of the compound increases, the flame becomes more and
more clear (blue).
Summary and Applications
The tests are extremely useful for decisions as to
whether further purification is necessary and as to
what type of purification procedures should be used.
If various tests in this section indicate that the
compound is very impure, recrystallization or
chromatography is almost certainly required.
Although liquids are very often easily analyzed by
gas chromatography, those that leave residues upon
ignition should not be injected into the gas
chromatograph
DETERMINATION OF
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Melting Points, Boiling Points
and Freezing Points
Specific Gravity pycnometer
Index of Refraction of Liquids
refractometer
OPTICAL ROTATION polarimeter
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