Real-life experiment. I want it so much. I had one today, basically. Supposedly there were four, but I went out for awhile. So, I tried my luck with the last test.

Chemistry, I am starting to love it. It is so interesting and magical. I had that stunning feeling every time I did a test. Hah! Today, we had a few tests to test for anions in different types of salts. Salts is one of the longest and most difficult chapter in our year, they said. It's okay. Before the tests, we had a simple double decomposition reaction to produce a insoluble salt - lead(II) iodide. Yellow in colour when it was filtrated out and dried with filter papers. It took awhile to dry bit by bit. Hah! It was fun and wonderful. And the best part was, I dried it. 

The anion tests, for chloride ions, carbonate ions, sulphate ions, and nitrate ions. I did the 'brown ring' test. First, I added the chemical substances accordingly. I had fun. The dropper was great. However, nothing reacted when the teacher dropped in the concentrated sulphuric acid. Oh, it wasn't fresh enough. Hah! So we went into the lab where they prepared it. A lot of apparatus were stuffed there. Some are dusty as they had not been used for decades. My teacher said even she doesn't know what it is because she didn't learn it in her year's syllabus. That means that apparatus was there for decades. Hah! I was amused each time I was there. Just imagine what can I do with those things in my hands. Think about it.

Finally, I prepared the sample again. And it reacted with the 'fresh' concentrated sulphuric acid. Wow. Boom. The 'brown ring' appeared at the bottom of the test tube. It was a complex ion, Fe2SO4.NO. I think that was what the teacher told me. When it was shaken, it went off and staining the solution brownish. Great. I marveled at my creation for awhile. Then, I place it back to the test tube rack. Memories...

By JM