You will have an experiment to do tomorrow, in which you will be given a white crystalline solid, and you will have to determine whether it is an ionic, polar, or non-polar compound, by doing at least 3 tests on it.  Consider the properties of these compounds to decide which tests to do.  You can test for odour, solubility in water and in alcohol, pH, conductivity in solution, and melting point.  What will each of these tests tell you about the type of solid you have?  You will not be able to do all of these tests in one period, so prioritize them to make sure you have enough information to tell what kind of solid you have.

Read p.292-293 to help you understand the solubility test.  Water is a polar solvent and alcohol is a less polar solvent, but is not non-polar.

Recall from Grade 10 science that litmus paper is used to test for acidic and basic solution.  When you use both red and blue litmus to test a substance, what are the colours they turn for a) acidic        b)  basic         c)  neutral solutions?

Your unit test will be next Friday, February 26, 2010.



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