Re: Making silver nitrate was Argyrotype chemistry


Sil Horwitz (silh@iag.net)
Wed, 10 Mar 1999 22:08:45 -0500


At 99/03/10 04:54 PM -0500, Judy wrote: (small part - most snipped)
>
>Artcraft sells silver oxide for $1.40 a gram if you buy 15 or more grams,
>$1.90 a gram if you buy fewer. You make a liter -- thats 10000000000 cc

A liter (litre in most other countries) is 1000 ml, approximately 1000 cc. (In
case that is confusing, a "cc" or "cubic centimeter" is no longer identical to
a milliliter (ml), but very close. Still, it's best to use the scientific term,
and to get the zeros in the correct amount.)

>However I can direct you to the drain cleaner: Red Devil. Supermarket.

Not all drain cleaners are sodium hydroxide, and even those that are often
include a few aluminum granules to create a reaction to assist in dissolving
the greases in a drain that needs to be cleaned. These would be death to making
silver oxide. Check the label, though they don't always list all the materials
in a proprietary mixture. If the aluminum or other metallic materials aren't
shown in the ingredients list, a quick glance at the substance in the container
will show dark specks if they are present. The lack of the dark specks does not
mean, however, that other materials harmful to the reaction are not present, as
they could be similar crystals, though I have not seen any like that. Draino
definitely does have the aluminum flakes. There are other drain cleaners that
are organic solvents, but these are liquids.

Sil Horwitz, FPSA
Technical Editor, PSA Journal
silh@iag.net
Visit http://www.psa-photo.org/
Personal page: http://www.iag.net/~silh/



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