Question #3d845

1 Answer
Jun 13, 2017

Bubble the gases through a solution of ammoniacal silver nitrate.

Explanation:

Ethyne gives a yellow-white precipitate of silver acetylide, while ethene gives no reaction.

The reaction depends on the fact that the hydrogen atoms in ethyne are slightly acidic.

The equation is

#"HC≡CH + 2AgNO"_3 + "2NH"_3 ⟶ underbrace("AgC≡CAg")_color(red)("yellow-white ppt") + "2NH"_4"NO"_3#