From: Judy Seigel (jseigel@panix.com)
Date: 09/10/02-12:26:24 AM Z
> Also, NEVER add water to one of these acids, ONLY add
> the acid to water. It can really splatter if you add
> water to the acid.
As I recall from our fandango about aqua regia on the list a couple of
years back -- two acids spatter -- sulfuric & another I forget right
now, but most others don't.
I had a surprising amount of trouble with muriatic acid, however -- it
ate right through the heavy plastic container it came in, ate the bottom
off my stainless sink it was under, and so forth. But nitric never gave
any trouble -- I think it's still around somewhere, but it came in a
really serious heavy glass bottle with a serious heavy plastic top. I
wouldn't rely on a glass stopper however -- they'tr not very tight and I
believe tend to freeze in the neck.
Pure hydrochloric was as bad as the muriatic, tho the amount was less --
it was in glass and still ate up the labels of everything in the vicinity.
I don't know if it matters, but I thought it might, so I kept the acids
together and the alkalis elsewhere.
One strategy that did help lower anxiety level, was to dilute the acid
right off to about 10%. Theoretically it doesn't keep as well diluted,
but my theory is maybe it keeps better, since less likely to eat through
its container.
> > I know a lot of the old books have mercury formulae also, so I am
> > assuming they were not as aware of the dangers of chems at that time.
> > chris
When I was in grade school they used to give us mercury to hold in our
hand for chemistry lesson. I knew someone whose family kept a big ball of
it as plaything -- the kids had to be chelated as adults. Knowledge of
the effect on water systems came later -- but the water pollution wasn't
so bad then either. It's surprising now how common mercury was as
formula. One lost process breaks my heart: similar to, as easy as
cyanotype, except it prints red. People used it for Christmas cards.
You'd have trouble buying mercury today, however. I have some Victor's
Intensifier in a drawer somewhere, bought when it was still legal & passed
along. I never used it & now can't get rid of it. But we do plenty of
mercury still. Don't fluorescent light bulbs mount up ?
J.
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