Qualitative analysis

Qualitative analysis is a field of analytical chemistry.  It uses chemical reactions to find out what an unknown chemical substance is.  Qualitative chemistry is used in many jobs.  It is very useful for testing for drugs and poisons.

Many reactions are used in qualitative chemistry.  For example, fire can be used to learn what metals are in the compound.  The scientist would know what metal was in an unknown compound by the color of the flame. 

Qualitative chemistry is in contrast with Quantitative chemistry.  "Qualitative" refers to what is present, while "quantitative" refers to how much is present.

Category:Analytical chemistry