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Fulminating Gold
Fulminating gold is a light- and shock-sensitive yellow to yellow-orange amorphous heterogeneous mixture of different polymeric compounds of predominantly gold (III), ammonia, and chlorine that cannot be described by a chemical formula. Here, the word fulminating has its oldest meaning, "explosive" (from Latin fulmen, lightning, from verb fulgeo, 'I shine'); the material contains no fulminate ions. The best approximate description is that it is the product of partial hydrolysis of ^3_\infty \ce. Upon combustion, it produces a purple vapor. The complex has a square planar molecular geometry with a low spin state. Generally, it is best to avoid accidentally creating this substance by mixing gold chloride or hydroxide salts with ammonia gas or ammonium salts, as it is prone to explosion with even the slightest touch. History Fulminating gold was the first high explosive known to man and was first noted in western alchemy as early as 1585. Sebald Schwaerzer was the first to isolate thi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amorphous
In condensed matter physics and materials science, an amorphous solid (or non-crystalline solid, glassy solid) is a solid that lacks the long-range order that is characteristic of a crystal. Etymology The term comes from the Greek ''a'' ("without"), and ''morphé'' ("shape, form"). In some older articles and books, the term was used synonymously with glass. Today, "glassy solid" or "amorphous solid" is considered the overarching concept. Polymers are often amorphous. Structure Amorphous materials have an internal structure comprising interconnected structural blocks that can be similar to the basic structural units found in the corresponding crystalline phase of the same compound. Unlike crystalline materials, however, no long-range order exists. Localized order in amorphous materials can be categorized as short or medium range order. By convention, short range order extends only to the nearest neighbor shell, typically only 1-2 atomic spacings. Medium range order is then de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
