In conclusion, the purpose of this was to identify the anions present in a mixture of solutions using qualitative analysis. This was achieved by reacting several mixtures to observe, which precipitated and which did not. We also took into account the reactants that were used but more specifically which anions it contained. A solution may not have precipitated; however, that does not mean that the solution did not contain any anions. Analyzing the known solutions and recording the proposed equations gave us a clue that lead to the determination of anions present in the unknown solutions. The anions present in both solutions were Cl-, NO3-, (PO4)3- and (SO4)2-. Using qualitative analysis after each reaction was the primary reason for the detection of anions.

Some sources of error in this lab may have occurred if, for one, the solutions were not precipitated or separated completely. This may have lead to false data since some of the anions may have remained unreacted, which disturbed the following procedure. One mistake in the reaction may have lead to a complete set of false data. For this experiment I would only test for one unknown because it became confusing when testing the unknowns at the same time and testing them separately made recording the data complicated because of the missing spots.