Hay's test, also known as Hay's sulphur powder test, is a
chemical test
In chemistry, a chemical test is a qualitative or quantitative procedure designed to identify, quantify, or characterise a chemical compound or chemical group.
Purposes
Chemical testing might have a variety of purposes, such as to:
* Determine ...
used for detecting the presence of
bile salt
Bile acids are steroid acids found predominantly in the bile of mammals and other vertebrates. Diverse bile acids are synthesized in the liver. Bile acids are conjugated with taurine or glycine residues to give anions called bile salts.
Primary ...
s in
urine
Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and in many other animals. Urine flows from the kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder. Urination results in urine being excreted from the body through the urethra.
Cellular ...
.
Procedure
Sulphur
Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...
powder is sprinkled into a test tube with three millilitres of urine and if the test is positive, the sulphur powder sinks to the bottom of the test tube. Sulphur powder sinks because bile salts decrease the
surface tension of urine.
References
Chemical tests
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