Chemistry
Calcium hydroxide solution is used to detect the presence of carbon dioxide gas, while sodium hydroxide is NOT. Justify.
Answer
Calcium hydroxide, when reacted with CO2 gives visible white precipitate of CaCO3. This verifies the test for CO2. However, sodium hydroxide does not give a visible change when reacted with CO2. This reaction forms sodium carbonate, which remains dissolved in solution. So, sodium hydroxide cannot be used to detect CO2 reliably.
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