Bleaching powder is an example of __________________?

Bleaching powder is a widely used inorganic compound in industry and households. It is primarily used for disinfection, bleaching, and water purification. Chemically, bleaching powder is represented as CaOCl₂, but its actual composition is more complex. It contains calcium chloride (CaCl₂), calcium oxychloride [Ca(OCl)Cl], and calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)₂)], making it a combination of different salts.

Because bleaching powder contains more than one type of salt in its structure, it is classified as a mixed salt. Mixed salts are those compounds that contain multiple salts, usually formed by the reaction of a normal salt with another reactive component, in this case, chlorine. In bleaching powder, chlorine reacts with slaked lime (Ca(OH)₂) to produce the compound:

Ca(OH)₂ + Cl₂ → CaOCl₂ + H₂O

This reaction shows that the product contains both CaOCl₂ and Ca(OH)₂, making it a mixture of salts rather than a pure normal salt. Unlike double salts, which can crystallize together in fixed proportions, a mixed salt contains more than one salt without forming a single crystalline structure.

Bleaching powder is widely used in water treatment to kill bacteria, in the textile industry to bleach fabrics, and in the paper industry to whiten paper. Its oxidizing properties, due to the presence of hypochlorite ions (OCl⁻), make it effective for these applications.

In summary, bleaching powder is a mixed salt because it contains a mixture of calcium salts and reacts as an oxidizing agent. Understanding its classification helps in inorganic chemistry to differentiate between normal salts, double salts, and complex salts.