Sunday, August 5, 2018

What chemical compounds used in qualitative chemistry can be distinguished by smell?



I will be competing in a contest and one part of it is qualitative analysis. And a fully legit way to help yourself during it is smelling compounds (to just get a theory to prove, you have to give a proof mixing given compounds, smelling is just to help, it is no proof). Oh, and I have a good nose, I think that much better than people usually have.


I mean by that I can quite easily distinguish solutions of e.g.:



  • Iodium (in $\ce{KI}$, 0.05 mol/l)

  • $\ce{Fe^3+}$ jones (0.05 mol/l)

  • Thymol blue (0,02 mol/l)

  • Sodium thiosulfate (0,05 mol/l)



or distinguish sugar from salt (kitchen ones).


And I have a access to most of the compounds used in analytical chemistry.


And my question is to write a list of compounds that should be able to be distinguished by smell. I also mean the most obvious things like ammonia. I don't mean just water solutions. I would really appreciate you being specific like "Acetate salts' water solutions, smelling like acetate acid" rather than "Acetate(s)". Thanks.




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