I have a white powder and do not know what it is... i added it to some HCL and it gave of CO2...... how do i get the first part of the formulae?
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The production of CO2 indicates the presence of a carbonate:
CO3(2-) + 2 H+ = H2O + CO2
The easiest way to determine what the counter ion is would be a flame test - just clean some platinum or Nichrome wire by repeatedly holding it into HCl and then into a flame, stick the hot wire into your powder, bring that end into the flame and observe the color; see the following link for what element is indicated by what color:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flame_test
CO3(2-) + 2 H+ = H2O + CO2
The easiest way to determine what the counter ion is would be a flame test - just clean some platinum or Nichrome wire by repeatedly holding it into HCl and then into a flame, stick the hot wire into your powder, bring that end into the flame and observe the color; see the following link for what element is indicated by what color:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flame_test