NITRIC See also:

• ACID (from the Lat. root ac-, sharp; acere, to be sour)

ACID (aqua fortis), HNO3  , an important See also:

• MINERAL

mineral See also:

• ACID (from the Lat. root ac-, sharp; acere, to be sour)

acid . It is mentioned in the De inventione veritatis ascribed to See also:

• GEBER

Geber, wherein it is obtained by calcining a mixture of See also:

• NITRE

nitre, See also:

• ALUM

alum and See also:

• BLUE (common in different forms to most European languages)

blue See also:

• VITRIOL

vitriol . It was again described by See also:

• ALBERT
• ALBERT (1490'1545)
• ALBERT (149o-1568)
• ALBERT (1522–1557)
• ALBERT (FRANCIS CHARLES AUGUSTUS ALBERT EMMANUEL) (1819—1861)
• ALBERT (FRIEDRICH RUDOLF ALBRECHT)
• ALBERT, FREDERICK AUGUSTUS
• ALBERT, MADAME (c. 2805—2846)

Albert le See also:

• GRAND

Grand in the 13th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century and by Raimon See also:

• LULL (or LvLLY), RAIMON, or RAYMOND (c. 1235-1315)

Lull, who prepared it by See also:

• HEATING

heating nitre and See also:

• CLAY (from O. Eng. claeg, a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Klei)
• CLAY, CASSIUS MARCELLUS (1810-1903)
• CLAY, CHARLES (1801–1893)
• CLAY, FREDERIC (1838–1889)
• CLAY, HENRY (1777–1852)

clay and called it " eau forte." See also:

• GLAUBER, JOHANN RUDOLF (1604-1668)

Glauber devised the See also:

• PROCESS

process in See also:

• COMMON

common use to-See also:

• DAY (O. Eng. dreg, Ger. Tag; according to the New English Dictionary, " in no way related to the Lat. dies")
• DAY, JOHN (1574-1640?)
• DAY, THOMAS (1748-1789)

day, viz. by heating nitre with strong sulphuric acid . Its true nature was not determined until the 18th century, when A . L . See also:

• LAVOISIER, ANTOINE LAURENT (1743-1794)

Lavoisier (1776) showed that it contained See also:

• OXYGEN (symbol 0, atomic weight 16)

oxygen, whilst in 1785 H . See also:

• CAVENDISH
• CAVENDISH, GEORGE (1500-1562?)
• CAVENDISH, HENRY (1731-1810)
• CAVENDISH, SIR WILLIAM (c. 1505-1557)

Cavendish determined its constitution and showed that it could be synthesized by passing a stream of electric See also:

• SPARKS, JARED (1789-1866)

sparks through moist See also:

• AIR (from an Indo-European root meaning " breathe," " blow ")
• AIR, or ASBEN

air . The acid is found to exist to a slight extent in the See also:

• FREE

free See also:

• CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition in some See also:

• WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters, but chiefly occurs in See also:

• COMBINATION (Lat. combinare, to combine)

combination with various metals, as nitrates,: principally as nitre or See also:

• SALTPETRE (from the Lat. sal, salt, Petra, a rock)

saltpetre, KNO3, and See also:

• CHILE, or CHILI (derived, it is said, from the Quichua chin , cold, or tchili, snow)

Chile saltpetre, NaNO3• It is formed when a stream of electric sparksis passed through moist air, and in the oxidation of nitrogenous See also:

• MATTER

matter in the presence of See also:

• WATER

water . For experimental purposes it is usually obtained by distilling See also:

• POTASSIUM [symbol K (from kalium), atomic weight 39.114 0=16)]

potassium or See also:

• SODIUM [symbol Na, from Lat. natrium; atomic weight 23.00 (0=16)]

sodium nitrate with concentrated sulphuric acid . The acid so obtained usually contains more or less water and some dissolved See also:

• NITROGEN [symbol N., atomic weight 14.01, 0=16]

nitrogen peroxide which gives it a yellowish red See also:

• COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour . It may be purified by redistillation over See also:

• BARIUM (symbol Ba, atomic weight 137'37 [0=16])

barium and See also:

• SILVER

silver nitrates, followed by treatment of the distillate with a stream of ozonized air . The product so obtained is then redistilled under diminished pressure and finally distilled again from a sealed and evacuated apparatus (V .

Veley and See also:

• MANLEY, MARY DE LA RIVIERE (c. 1663-1724)

Manley, Phil . Trans., 1898, A . 291, p . 365) . On the large See also:

• SCALE
• SCALE (1) A

scale it is obtained by distil-See also:

• LING, PER HENRIK (1776-1839)

ling Chile saltpetre with concentrated sulphuric acid in See also:

• HORIZONTAL

horizontal See also:

• CAST (from the verb meaning " to throw "; the word is Scand. in origin, cf. Dan. kaste, and Swed. kasta; " cast " in Middle Eng. took the place of the A.S. weor pan, cf. Ger. werf en)

cast See also:

• IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron stills, the vapours being condensed in a See also:

• SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of stoneware Woulfe's bottles . In practice the theoretical quantity of acid and Chile saltpetre is not used, but the See also:

• CHARGE
• CHARGE (through the Fr. from the Late Lat. carricare, to load in a carrus or wagon; cf. " cargo ")

charge is so regulated that the mixture of acid and neutral sodium sulphate formed in the See also:

• RETORT (Lat. retorquere, to twist or turn back)

retort remains liquid at the temperature employed, and consequently can be readily removed . Various modifications have been made in the See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form of the condensing apparatus, the Guttmann See also:

• CONDENSER

condenser (Jour . See also:

• SOC

Soc . Chem . Ind., 1893, p . 203) being now frequently employed . This consists of a series of See also:

• VERTICAL (from Lat. vertex, highest point)

vertical earthenware condensing tubes through which compressed air is passed in See also:

• ORDER
• ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
• ORDER, HOLY

order to reduce the quantity of nitrogen peroxide to a minimum .

The temperature of the condenser is so regulated as to bring about the condensation of the nitric acid only, which runs out at the bottom of the See also:

• PIPE

pipe, whilst any uncondensed See also:

• STEAM
• STEAM (0. Eng. steam, vapour, smoke, cf. Du. steam; the origin is unknown)

steam, nitrogen peroxide and other impurities pass into a See also:

• LUNGE, GEORG (1839- )

Lunge See also:

• TOWER (Lat. turris; Fr. tour, clocker; Ital. torre; Ger. Thurm)

tower, where they meet a descending stream of water and are condensed, giving rise to an impure acid . F . Valentiner {Eng . Pat . 610 (1892), 19192 (1895)] recommends See also:

• DISTILLATION (from the Lat. distillare, more correctly destillare, to drop or trickle down)

distillation and condensation of nitric acid in a partial vacuum . For the See also:

• PRODUCTION (Lat. productionem, from producere, to pro-duce)

production of nitric acid from air see NITROGEN . Fuming nitric acid consists of a See also:

• SOLUTION (from Lat. solvere, to loosen, dissolve)

solution of nitrogen peroxide in concentrated nitric acid and is prepared by distilling dry sodium nitrate with concentrated sulphuric acid . Nitric acid is a colourless strongly fuming liquid, having a specific gravity of 1.50394 (24.2° C.) (V . Veley, Proc . See also:

• ROY, WILLIAM (1726-1790)

Roy . Soc., 62, p . 223) .

It is exceedingly hygroscopic and corrosive . On distillation, the pure acid begins to See also:

• BOIL

boil at 78.2° C . (W . See also:

• RAMSAY, ALLAN (1686-1758)
• RAMSAY, ALLAN (1713-1784)
• RAMSAY, ANDREW MICHAEL (1686-1743)
• RAMSAY, DAVID (1749—1815)
• RAMSAY, SIR WILLIAM (1852– )
• RAMSAY, SIR WILLIAM MITCHELL (185r– )

Ramsay), partial decomposition into water, oxygen and nitrogen peroxide taking See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place . The acid solidifies when strongly cooled, the solid melting at – 47° C . Concentrated nitric acid forms with water a See also:

• CONSTANT, BENJAMIN (1845-1902)

constant boiling mixture which boils at 120.5° C., contains 68% of acid and possesses a specific gravity of 1414 (15'5° C.) . If a more dilute acid than this be distilled, water passes over in excess and the See also:

• RESIDUE (through the French, from the Lat. residuum, a remainder, from residere, to remain)

residue in the retort reaches the above See also:

• COMPOSITION
• COMPOSITION (Lat. compositio, from componere, to put together)

composition and 'boiling point; on distillation of a stronger acid, excess of acid passes into the distillate and the boiling point rises until the values of the constant boiling mixture are reached . On the hydrates of nitric acid see V . Veley, Jour . Chem . Soc., 1903, 83, p . 1015, and F .

W . Kuster, Zeit. anorg . Chem . 1904, 41, p . 1 . On mixing nitric acid with water there is a rise of temperature and a contraction in See also:

• VOLUME

volume . The acid is a powerful oxidizing See also:

• AGENT (from Lat. agere, to act)

agent . It attacks most metals readily, usually with production of a nitrate or hydrated See also:

• OXIDE

oxide of the See also:

• METAL
• METAL (through Fr. from Lat. metallum, mine, quarry, adapted from Gr. µATaXAov, in the same sense, probably connected with ,ueraAAdv, to search after, explore, µeTa, after, aAAos, other)

metal and one or other of the oxides of nitrogen, or occasionally with the production of ammonium salts; See also:

• MAGNESIUM [symbol Mg, atomic weight 24.32 (0 = 16)]

magnesium, however, liberates See also:

• HYDROGEN [symbol H, atomic weight x-oo8 (0=16)]

hydrogen from the very dilute acid . Its See also:

• ACTION

action on metals depends in most cases on the temperature, strength of the acid, and the nature of the products of reaction . Thus in the See also:

• CASE
• CASE, JOHN (d. 1600)

case of See also:

• COPPER (symbol Cu, atomic weight 63.1, H=1, or 63.6, O = 16)

copper, it is found that the diluted acid acts very slowly upon the metal at first, but as the reaction proceeds the capper dissolves more rapidly up to a certain point and then the See also:

• RATE

rate of solution again diminishes . This is possibly due to the accelerating action of the nitrous acid which is produced in the See also:

• DIRECT

direct action of the copper on the nitric acid and which, when a certain amount has been formed in the See also:

• SYSTEM

system, begins to decompose, thus 3HNO2=HNO3+ 2NO+See also:

• H2O (combined)

H2O (V . Veley, Phil .

Trans., 1891, 182, p . 279; G . O . Higley, Amer . Chem . Jour., 1893, 15, p . 71, 1895, 17, p . 18, 1896, 18, p . 587) . Iron when brought into contact with nitric acid under certain conditions, remains passive to the acid . Thus at 550 C. it is passive to an acid of specific gravity 1.42, and at 31° C. to an acid of specific gravity 1.38 . No satisfactory explanation of this passivity has been given (see J .

B . Senderens, See also:

• BULL
• BULL, GEORGE (1634–1710)
• BULL, JOHN (c. 1562–1628)
• BULL, OLE BORNEMANN (18ro-188o)

Bull . Soc . Chem., 1896 [3], 15, p . 691; A . Finkelstein, Zeit. phys . Chem., 1901, 39, p . 91; W . J . See also:

• MULLER, FERDINAND VON, BARON (1825–1896)
• MULLER, FRIEDRICH (1749-1825)
• MULLER, GEORGE (1805-1898)
• MULLER, JOHANNES PETER (18o1-1858)
• MULLER, JOHANNES VON (1752-1809)
• MULLER, JULIUS (18oi-1878)
• MULLER, KARL OTFRIED (1797-1840)
• MULLER, LUCIAN (1836-1898)
• MULLER, WILHELM (1794-1827)
• MULLER, WILLIAM JAMES (1812-1845)

Muller, ibid . 1904, 48, p . 577) .

Nitric acid is without action on See also:

• GOLD
• GOLD [symbol Au, atomic weight 195.7(H = 1),197.2(0 =16)]

gold, See also:

• PLATINUM [symbol Pt, atomic weight 145.0 (0=16)]

platinum, See also:

• IRIDIUM (symbol Ir.; atomic weight 193.1)

iridium and See also:

• RHODIUM [symbol Rh; atomic weight 102.9 (0=16)]

rhodium . The salts of nitric acid, known as nitrates, are mostly readily soluble in water and crystallize well . They are all decomposed when heated to a sufficiently high temperature, with See also:

• EVOLUTION

evolution for the most See also:

• PART

part of oxygen and nitrogen peroxide, leaving a residue of oxide of the metal . They may be recognized by the fact that on the addition of a solution of ferrous sulphate, followed by that of concentrated sulphuric acid (the mixture being kept quite See also:

• COLD (in O. Eng. cald and ceald, a word coming ultimately from a root cognate with the Lat. gelu, gelidus, and common in the Teutonic languages, which usually have two distinct forms for the substantive and the adjective, cf. Ger. Kolte, kalt, Dutch koude

cold), the ferrous sulphate solution becomes of a deep See also:

• BROWN
• BROWN, CHARLES BROCKDEN (1771-181o)
• BROWN, FORD MADOX (1821-1893)
• BROWN, FRANCIS (1849- )
• BROWN, GEORGE (1818-188o)
• BROWN, HENRY KIRKE (1814-1886)
• BROWN, JACOB (1775–1828)
• BROWN, JOHN (1715–1766)
• BROWN, JOHN (1722-1787)
• BROWN, JOHN (1735–1788)
• BROWN, JOHN (1784–1858)
• BROWN, JOHN (1800-1859)
• BROWN, JOHN (1810—1882)
• BROWN, JOHN GEORGE (1831— )
• BROWN, ROBERT (1773-1858)
• BROWN, SAMUEL MORISON (1817—1856)
• BROWN, SIR GEORGE (1790-1865)
• BROWN, SIR JOHN (1816-1896)
• BROWN, SIR WILLIAM, BART
• BROWN, THOMAS (1663-1704)
• BROWN, THOMAS (1778-1820)
• BROWN, THOMAS EDWARD (1830-1897)
• BROWN, WILLIAM LAURENCE (1755–1830)

brown colour, owingto the reducing action of the ferrous sulphate on the nitric acid which is liberated by the action of the sulphuric acid on the nitrate . As an alternative method the nitrate may be warmed with some fragments of copper and sulphuric acid which has been diluted with its own volume of water, when characteristic brown vapours will be seen . Nitric acid finds extensive application in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, certain See also:

• COAL

coal-See also:

• TAR

tar colouring matters, See also:

• EXPLOSIVES

explosives, and in the production of various nitrates . In See also:

• MEDICINE

medicine, nitric acid is used externally in a pure See also:

• STATE
• STATE, GREAT OFFICERS OF

state as a See also:

• CAUSTIC (Gr. rcavvraubs, burning)

caustic to destroy chancres, warts and phagadenic ulcers; and diluted preparations are employed in the treatment of See also:

• DYSPEPSIA (from the Gr. prefix Sur-, hard, ill, and 'irirreiv, to digest)

dyspepsia, &c . Poisoning by strong nitric acid produces a widespread gastro-See also:

• ENTERITIS (Gr. Evrepov, intestine)

enteritis, burning See also:

• PAIN (from Lat. poena, Gr. robin, penalty, that which must be paid: O. Fr. peine)
• PAIN, BARRY (1867– )

pain in the See also:

• OESOPHAGUS (Gr. o'lvca=I will carry, and r/)ayeiv, to eat)

oesophagus and See also:

• ABDOMEN (a Latin word, either from abdere, to hide, or from a form adipomen, from adeps, fat)

abdomen and bloody See also:

• DIARRHOEA (from Gr. &Q, through, pfw, flow)

diarrhoea . There may also be See also:

• BLOOD

blood in the urine . See also:

• DEATH

Death occurs from collapse or from secondary destructive changes in the intestinal See also:

• CANAL
• CANAL (from Lat. canalis, " channel " and " kennel " being doublets of the word)

canal . Characteristic yellow staining of the skin See also:

• ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round the mouth from the formation of xanthoproteic acid serves to distinguish it from poisoning by other acids . The antidotes are mild alkalis, together with the use of See also:

• OPIUM (Gr. amov, dim. from Orbs, juice)

opium to relieve pain .