Question

Write a chemical test to distinguish between chlorine and hydrogen chloride gas

Answer 1

Answer:

Dissolve both HCl gas and Cl2 in water separately by passing the gases in water. Cl2 in water will make a bleach HOCl called hypochlorous acid while HCl gas will dissolve in water to make a dilute HCl acid soln.

Take a wet blue litmus and dip in both solutions

While HCl will turn blue litmus red, the bleach soln of chlorine water will turn it colourless

Answer 2

HCl gas turns blue litmus paper to red

Explanation:

We can observe these properties for distnguishing chlorine and hydrogen chloride gas  -

Hydrogen chloride gas

• colourless
• Pungent smell
• It turns moist litmus paper from blue to red
• It is extremely soluble in water
• It will put out a lit splint

Chlorine gas

• Yellow-green in color
• Characteristic sharp, irritating odor, choking smell
• It turns a damp blue litmus paper red, and then it'll bleach it white
• It turns starch-iodide paper (white) to a blue- black color