Devarda's Alloy
Devarda's alloy (CAS # 8049-11-4), is an alloy of aluminium (44% – 46%), copper (49% – 51%) and zinc (4% – 6%). Devarda's alloy is used as reducing agent in analytical chemistry for the determination of nitrates after their reduction to ammonia under alkaline conditions. It is named for Italian chemist Arturo Devarda (1859–1944), who synthesised it at the end of the 19th century to develop a new method to analyze nitrate in Chile saltpeter. It was often used in the quantitative or qualitative analysis of nitrates in agriculture and soil science before the development of ion chromatography, the predominant analysis method largely adopted worldwide today. General mechanism When a solution of nitrate ions is mixed with aqueous sodium hydroxide, adding Devarda's alloy and heating the mixture gently, liberates ammonia gas. After conversion under the form of ammonia, the total nitrogen is then determined by Kjeldahl method. The redu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ionic Equation
A chemical equation is the symbolic representation of a chemical reaction in the form of symbols and chemical formulas. The reactant entities are given on the left-hand side and the product entities on the right-hand side with a plus sign between the entities in both the reactants and the products, and an arrow that points towards the products to show the direction of the reaction. The chemical formulas may be symbolic, structural (pictorial diagrams), or intermixed. The coefficients next to the symbols and formulas of entities are the absolute values of the stoichiometric numbers. The first chemical equation was diagrammed by Jean Beguin in 1615. Structure A chemical equation (see an example below) consists of a list of reactants (the starting substances) on the left-hand side, an arrow symbol, and a list of products (substances formed in the chemical reaction) on the right-hand side. Each substance is specified by its chemical formula, optionally preceded by a number call ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stibine
Stibine (IUPAC name: stibane) is a chemical compound with the formula SbH3. A pnictogen hydride, this colourless, highly toxic gas is the principal covalent hydride of antimony, and a heavy analogue of ammonia. The molecule is pyramidal with H–Sb–H angles of 91.7° and Sb–H distances of 170.7 pm (1.707 Å). This gas has an offensive smell like hydrogen sulfide (rotten eggs). Preparation SbH3 is generally prepared by the reaction of Sb3+ sources with H− equivalents: :2 Sb2O3 + 3 LiAlH4 → 4 SbH3 + 1.5 Li2O + 1.5 Al2O3 :4 SbCl3 + 3 NaBH4 → 4 SbH3 + 3 NaCl + 3 BCl3 Alternatively, sources of Sb3− react with protonic reagents (even water) to also produce this unstable gas: :Na3Sb + 3 H2O → SbH3 + 3 NaOH Properties The chemical properties of SbH3 resemble those for AsH3. Typical for a heavy hydride (e.g. AsH3, H2Te, SnH4), SbH3 is unstable with respect to its elements. The gas decomposes slowly at room temperature but rapidly at 200 °C: ::2 SbH3 → 3 H2 + ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Arsine
Arsine ( IUPAC name: arsane) is an inorganic compound with the formula As H3. This flammable, pyrophoric, and highly toxic pnictogen hydride gas is one of the simplest compounds of arsenic. Despite its lethality, it finds some applications in the semiconductor industry and for the synthesis of organoarsenic compounds. The term ''arsine'' is commonly used to describe a class of organoarsenic compounds of the formula AsH3−xRx, where R = aryl or alkyl. For example, As(C6H5)3, called triphenylarsine, is referred to as "an arsine". General properties At its standard state, arsine is a colorless, denser-than-air gas that is slightly soluble in water (20% at 20 °C) and in many organic solvents as well. Whereas arsine itself is odorless, owing to its oxidation by air, it is possible to smell a slight garlic or fish-like scent when the compound is present above 0.5 ppm. This compound is kinetically stable: at room temperature it decomposes only slowly. At temperatures of c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nascent Hydrogen
Nascent hydrogen is an outdated concept in organic chemistry that was once invoked to explain dissolving-metal reactions, such as the Clemmensen reduction and the Bouveault–Blanc reduction. Since organic compounds do not react with H2, a special state of hydrogen was postulated. It is now understood that dissolving-metal reactions occur at the metal surface, and the concept of nascent hydrogen has been discredited in organic chemistry. However, the formation of atomic hydrogen is largely invoked in inorganic chemistry and corrosion sciences to explain hydrogen embrittlement in metals exposed to electrolysis and anaerobic corrosion (e.g., dissolution of zinc in strong acids ( HCl) and aluminium in strong bases ( NaOH). The mechanism of hydrogen embrittlement was first proposed by Johnson (1875). The inability of hydrogen atoms to react with organic reagents in organic solvents does not exclude the transient formation of hydrogen atoms capable to immediately diffuse into t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nitrite Test
A nitrite test is a chemical test used to determine the presence of nitrite ion in solution. Chemical methods Using iron(II) sulfate A simple nitrite test can be performed by adding 4 M sulfuric acid to the sample until acidic, and then adding 0.1 M iron(II) sulfate to the solution. A positive test for nitrite is indicated by a dark brown solution, arising from the iron-nitric oxide complex ion. This test is related to the brown ring test for the nitrate ion, which forms the same complex in a ring. In contrast, nitrites turn the whole solution brown and therefore interfere with that test. Griess test A common method of quantitative nitrite detection is the Griess test, which relies on the reaction of nitrite with the two components of a Griess reagent to form a red azo dye. This allows the concentration of nitrite to be determined by UV-vis spectroscopy. : Urinary nitrite test A nitrite test is a standard component of a urinary test strip. A positive test for nitrites in th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nitrate Test
A Nitrate Test is a chemical test used to determine the presence of nitrate ion in solution. Testing for the presence of nitrate via wet chemistry is generally difficult compared with testing for other anions, as almost all nitrates are soluble in water. In contrast, many common ions give insoluble salts, e.g. halides precipitate with silver, and sulfate precipitate with barium. The nitrate anion is an oxidizer, and many tests for the nitrate anion are based on this property. However, other oxidants present in the analyte may interfere and give erroneous results. Nitrate can also be detected by first reducing it to the more reactive nitrite ion and using one of many nitrite tests. Brown ring test A common nitrate test, known as the brown ring testEgon Wiberg, Arnold Frederick Holleman (2001) ''Inorganic Chemistry'', Elsevier can be performed by adding iron(II) sulfate to a solution of a nitrate, then slowly adding concentrated sulfuric acid such that the acid forms a layer bel ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gedanken
A thought experiment is a hypothetical situation in which a hypothesis, theory, or principle is laid out for the purpose of thinking through its consequences. History The ancient Greek ''deiknymi'' (), or thought experiment, "was the most ancient pattern of mathematical proof", and existed before Euclidean mathematics, where the emphasis was on the conceptual, rather than on the experimental part of a thought-experiment. Johann Witt-Hansen established that Hans Christian Ørsted was the first to use the German term ' (lit. thought experiment) circa 1812. Ørsted was also the first to use the equivalent term ' in 1820. By 1883 Ernst Mach used the term ' in a different way, to denote exclusively the conduct of a experiment that would be subsequently performed as a by his students. Physical and mental experimentation could then be contrasted: Mach asked his students to provide him with explanations whenever the results from their subsequent, real, physical experiment diff ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Reductant
In chemistry, a reducing agent (also known as a reductant, reducer, or electron donor) is a chemical species that "donates" an electron to an (called the , , , or ). Examples of substances that are commonly reducing agents include the Earth metals, formic acid, oxalic acid, and sulfite compounds. In their pre-reaction states, reducers have extra electrons (that is, they are by themselves reduced) and oxidizers lack electrons (that is, they are by themselves oxidized). This is commonly expressed in terms of their oxidation states. An agent's oxidation state describes its degree of loss of electrons, where the higher the oxidation state then the fewer electrons it has. So initially, prior to the reaction, a reducing agent is typically in one of its lower possible oxidation states; its oxidation state increases during the reaction while that of the oxidizer decreases. Thus in a redox reaction, the agent whose oxidation state increases, that "loses/ donates electrons", that "is oxi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Arsine
Arsine ( IUPAC name: arsane) is an inorganic compound with the formula As H3. This flammable, pyrophoric, and highly toxic pnictogen hydride gas is one of the simplest compounds of arsenic. Despite its lethality, it finds some applications in the semiconductor industry and for the synthesis of organoarsenic compounds. The term ''arsine'' is commonly used to describe a class of organoarsenic compounds of the formula AsH3−xRx, where R = aryl or alkyl. For example, As(C6H5)3, called triphenylarsine, is referred to as "an arsine". General properties At its standard state, arsine is a colorless, denser-than-air gas that is slightly soluble in water (20% at 20 °C) and in many organic solvents as well. Whereas arsine itself is odorless, owing to its oxidation by air, it is possible to smell a slight garlic or fish-like scent when the compound is present above 0.5 ppm. This compound is kinetically stable: at room temperature it decomposes only slowly. At temperatures of c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hydrochloric Acid
Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride. It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungent smell. It is classified as a strong acid. It is a component of the gastric acid in the digestive systems of most animal species, including humans. Hydrochloric acid is an important laboratory reagent and industrial chemical. History In the early tenth century, the Persian physician and alchemist Abu Bakr al-Razi ( 865–925, Latin: Rhazes) conducted experiments with sal ammoniac ( ammonium chloride) and vitriol (hydrated sulfates of various metals), which he distilled together, thus producing the gas hydrogen chloride. In doing so, al-Razi may have stumbled upon a primitive method for producing hydrochloric acid, as perhaps manifested in the following recipe from his ("The Book of Secrets"): However, it appears that in most of his experiments al-Razi disregarded the gaseous products, concentrating instead on the color c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Marsh Test
The Marsh test is a highly sensitive method in the detection of arsenic, especially useful in the field of forensic toxicology when arsenic was used as a poison. It was developed by the chemist James Marsh and first published in 1836. The method continued to be used, with improvements, in forensic toxicology until the 1970s. Arsenic, in the form of white arsenic trioxide , was a highly favored poison, being odourless, easily incorporated into food and drink, and before the advent of the Marsh test, untraceable in the body. In France, it came to be known as ' ("inheritance powder"). For the untrained, arsenic poisoning will have symptoms similar to cholera. Precursor methods The first breakthrough in the detection of arsenic poisoning was in 1775 when Carl Wilhelm Scheele discovered a way to change arsenic trioxide to garlic-smelling arsine gas (AsH3), by treating it with nitric acid (HNO3) and combining it with zinc. :As2O3 + 6 Zn + 12 HNO3 → 2 AsH3 + 6 Zn(NO3)2 + 3 H2O ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |