Suppose you carry out the procedure described in Question 3 ( see reference belo

Question

Suppose you carry out the procedure described in Question 3 (see reference below for Question 3), but the resulting mixture remains a solid. Without further testing, what conclusion can be made about the unknown identity? A)The unknown and possible unknown compound are identical. B)The unknown and possible unknown compound are different. C)No conclusion can be made. *Quesiton 3- You mix an unknown with one of three possible uknown compounds and the mixture immediately melts. What would you conclude about the identity of the unknown? Answer I chose for Question 3- B)The unknown and possible unknown compound are different. Answer I think is correct for proposed question- C. Reason- further testing such as attempting to melt substances to determine actual mixed boiling point needs to take place for further identification. Correct? Thank you!

Explanation / Answer

The answer is C) No conclusion can be made.

Explanation: Since, the mixture remains solid and we consider that both the unknown and possible unknown compound are identical, the melting point can be used to help identify an unknown. However, since there are so many thousands of known compounds, melting points alone can only provide some corroborative evidence of identity of unknown compound not the conclusive proof. Further, when the unknown and possible unknown compounds are different, the melting points, which are sensitive to the purity of the compounds, cannot be used for identification. Therefore no conclusion can be made.

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