Identify the bleaching powder from the given set of samples and understand the chemistry behind the bleaching action.
Bleaching powder is a light yellowish powder with a strong chlorine odour. Although it is soluble in water, the presence of contaminants prevents us from seeing a clean solution. The chemical formula of bleaching powder is Ca(OCl)2 and the chemical name is Calcium hypochlorite or Calcium oxychloride.
Bleaching powder is a water-soluble bleaching agent used in the textile industry. In several sectors, it's also utilised as an oxidizer and disinfectant. It's also worth noting that bleaching powder is made by reacting chlorine gas with dry slaked lime (Ca(OH)2).
Bleaching powder is calcium oxochloride (CaOCl2). On treatment with small quantity of dilute acid, it liberates hypochlorous acid which can easily furnish oxygen called nascent oxygen and thus acts as an oxidising and bleaching agent.
2CaOCl2 (s) + H
HClO → HCl + [O] (Nasent oxygen)
In this experiment, we shall make use of this bleaching reaction to identify the bleaching powder from the given samples of chemicals.