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  4. Formic acid and acetic acid may be distinguished by the reaction with:

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Q. Formic acid and acetic acid may be distinguished by the reaction with:

Jharkhand CECEJharkhand CECE 2002

Solution:

The reagent which is used to distinguish the substances should produce different results.
For clue draw structure of both.
image
Formic acid has $-CHO$ group so it gives all tests of aldehyde group and $OCOOH$ does not give.
$\underset{\text { formic acid }}{ HCOOH }+ AgNO _{3}+ NH _{3} \rightarrow \underset{\text{ silver mirror }}{ Ag }+ CO _{2}+ H _{2} O$
$CH _{3} COOH + AgNO _{3}+ NH _{3} \rightarrow$ No reaction acetic acid $2,4$-dinitrophenyl hydrazine test is given by carbonyl compounds.