Aluminum carbonate solution can be used to identify all the following cations except:

Understand the Problem

The question is asking which cation cannot be identified using aluminum carbonate solution among the given options, which includes Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, and Ag²⁺.

More Information

Aluminum carbonate is insoluble, so it can precipitate out certain cations. Sodium carbonate is soluble, so Na+ would not be identified with this test.

Tips

A common mistake is not correctly applying solubility rules for carbonates, which are mostly insoluble except for those of Group 1 metals.

Sources

• Qualitative Cation Analysis - Chemistry LibreTexts - chem.libretexts.org