Question

You are given a mixture of silver and barium carbonate. Which of the following sequences would enable you to obtain a pure sample of silver?

A Add aqueous sodium chloride, filter and crystallise.
B Add aqueous sodium chloride, stir and fliter.
C Add dilute hydrochloric acid, stir and filter.
D Add dilute sulfuric acid, stir and filter.

Answer 1

Ag + NaCl gives AgCl which on heating should give silver and chlorine.
I would choose (A) coz crystallization would ensure pure product isolation. Barium carbonate on the other hand should be insoluble in the aqueous solution so can be filtered out.

Answer 2

that doesn't sound right to me... There is no mention of heating and simply crystallizing does not ensure pure product isolation.. Also, A would create AgCl which has a very low solubility in water so it would precipitate while the silver was in the wrong form.
especially not if there are several salts involved... I would choose D because it forms barium sulfate, CO2 and H2O.. Barium sulfate is highly insoluble and can be filtered out..

Answer 3

Thank you! :)