A mixture of C2H6,C2H4 and C2H2 is bubbled through alkaline solution of copper (I) chloride, contained in Woulf's bottle. The gas coming out is :
HC≡CH+CuCl⟶HC≡CoCl↓
Alkynes react with alkaline CuCl forming a precipitate. While alkanes and alkenes are inert to reactions with CHCl. As a result when the mixture is bubbled through the solution, ethyne C2H2 is absorbed and gas coming out contains ethane C2H6 and ethene C2H4