Question

You are provided with a fine white coloured powder which is either sugar or salt. How would you identify itwithout tasting?

Answer 1

There are many ways by which we can differentiate between sugar and salt without testing
(i)   Dissolve salt and sugar separately in alcohol, sugar will be dissolved in it while salt will not be
dissolved.
(ii)  Heat these salts separately, sugar will melt readily while salt will not.
(iii) Dissolve these two separately in water. Salt solution will conduct electricity due to the presence of Na+ion and CF ion while sugar solution will be a non-conductor. So, simply test a drop of the solution with an ohmmeter and you can immediately tell the difference.

Answer 2

Answer:

Explanation:

1. The salt, as well as sugar, is white. The condition given is it must be identified without tasting.

2. Thus as per the given scenario, the given substance must be either put for a heating test or electrical conductivity test.

3. In the case of the heating test, if the given powder is sugar, it may impart a light brown colour on heating whereas salt remains white.

4. In the case of electrical conductivity, salt conducts electricity due to the presence of ions, whereas sugar is a bad conductor of electricity.