Question

How will you detect the presence of nitrate ions in the compound?

Answer 1

In order to answer the given question, we must know what a brown ring test is and why is the test used. The brown ring test is a test which is used to test the presence of the nitrate ions in a given chemical compound.

Complete step-by-step answer: Let us first understand about the brown ring test. The test in which the presence of the nitrate ions in a given solution can be detected is known as the Nitrate test. This nitrate test is referred to as the Brown ring test.
Let us now see the procedure for conducting the brown ring test. In order to test the presence of the nitrate ions in a given solution, we must first take the given solution and add the ferrous sulphate solution and mix well. Now slowly add the concentrated sulphuric acid along the walls of the test tube. If the brown ring is formed at the junction of the two layers, it will indicate the presence of the nitrate ions in the given solution.
We can write the chemical reaction for the brown ring test as:
$2HN{O_3} + 3{H_2}S{O_4} + 6FeS{O_4} \to 2F{e_2}{(S{O_4})_3} + 2NO + 4{H_2}O$
$[Fe{({H_2}O)_6}]S{O_4} + NO \to [Fe{({H_2}O)_5}NO]S{O_4} + {H_2}O$
${[Fe{({H_2}O)_5}NO]^{2 + }}$ is the brown ring which is formed.

Note: The presence of excess of the nitrate ions can cause many harms to us such as
- Methemoglobinemia
- Nausea
- Diarrhea
- headache
- Vomiting