Question

Dry distillation of a mixture of calcium formate and the calcium acetate mainly gives
A.HCHO
B.${ CH }_{ 3 }CHO$
C.${ { CH }_{ 3 }COCH }_{ 3 }$
D.None of the above

Answer 1

Hint: Dry distillation is defined as the process in which solid substances are heated to produce gaseous substances that may further condense into liquids or solids. Now use this hint to find the products.

Complete step by step answer:

We have already defined the process of dry distillation. Now we will try to apply this on the above question to reach our final answer.
Calcium salts of carboxylic acid on crossing with each other form ketones/aldehydes with the alkyl parts derived from different carboxylic groups.
When a mixture of calcium acetate and calcium formate is heated, ${ CH }_{ 3 }CHO$ and ${ CaCO }_{ 3 }$ is formed.
The chemical equation for the dry distillation of mixture of calcium acetate and calcium formate follows:
          ${ Ca({ CH }_{ 3 }COO) }_{ 2 }\quad +\quad { Ca({ HCOO }) }_{ 2 }\quad \rightarrow \quad { 2CaCO }_{ 3 }\quad +\quad 2{ CH }_{ 3 }CHO$
We can see this in the above chemical reaction of the dry distillation process, the products we get are 2 moles of calcium carbonate and 2 moles of acetaldehyde.

Thus we can say that the correct answer is B.

Note: Dry distillation, or destructive distillation, is a type of pyrolysis. It’s usually done with wood or coal or shale rocks, anything solid with high content of organic matter. The matter is heated to a high temperature in a low oxygen atmosphere, and decomposes in several light components that are then rectified and separated in a fractional distillation column.