Chemistry
(a) Which property of sulphuric acid accounts for it's use as a dehydrating agent?
(b) Concentrated sulphuric acid is both an oxidizing agent and a non-volatile acid. Write one equation each to illustrate the above mentioned properties of sulphuric acid.
Sulphuric Acid
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Answer
(a) Sulphuric acid is a powerful dehydrating agent due to it's strong affinity towards water.
(b) (i) Oxidising agent : The oxidising property of concentrated sulphuric acid is due to the fact that on thermal decomposition it yields nascent oxygen [O].
H2SO4 ⟶ H2O + SO2 + [O]
Nascent oxygen oxidises non-metals, metals and inorganic compounds.
C + 2H2SO4 ⟶ CO2 + 2H2O + 2SO2 ↑
(ii) Non-volatile nature : It has a high boiling point so it is considered to be a non-volatile acid. It is, therefore, used for preparing volatile acids like hydrochloric acid, nitric acid and acidic acid from their salts by double decomposition.
NaCl + H2SO4 ⟶ NaHSO4 + HCl
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