Question

How could you tell if the powder was salt, sugar, flour, or baking soda?

Answer 1

Since all of the given items are considered safe and are commonly used for human consumption, the fastest way for you to tell whether if the powder presented is salt, sugar, flour or baking soda is to taste it. Each of the items have their own distinct taste and it is easier to determine which is which. Hope this answers your question.

Answer 2

Answer:

Mixing them with water and acetone

Explanation:

Hi, the first step is mix a bit of each other with water:

• The salt and the sugar will disolve and leave a clean water
• The flour will also disolve but the resulting water will be a little cloudy
• The baking soda will release CO2 and the bubbles cna be seen.

So far you have identify the flour and the baking soda. Now, the sugar is an organic compound soluble in organic solvents like acetone, but the salt isn't much soluble in non polar solvents like this one.

Mixing a bit of this two substances in acetone will tell you that:

• The one that disolves is the sugar
• The one that doesn't disolve is the salt.