A System of Instruction in the Practical Use of the Blowpipe. Unknown
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and of the manner of bending the tubes.
(i.) Glass Tubes closed at one End.—If we wish to expose volatile substances to heat, with the exclusion of air as much as possible, or to ascertain the contents of water, or other volatile fluids, or for the purpose of heating substances which will decrepitate, we use glass tubes closed at one end. These tubes must be about one-eighth of an inch wide, and from two to three inches in length. They should be made of white glass, difficult of fusion, and free from lead. They should be closed at one end, as figured in the margin, Fig. 10.
When a substance is to be examined for the purpose of ascertaining whether it contains combustible matter, as sulphur or arsenic, and where we wish to avoid oxidation, we use these tubes without extending the closed end, in order that there may be as little air admitted as possible, as is represented in tube B. But when a substance to be examined is to be tested for water, or other incombustible volatile matters, we employ tubes with little bulbs blown at one end, such as represented at tube A. Here there is room for a circulation of air at the bottom of the tube, by which the volatile matter rises more easily. In some cases, it is necessary to draw the closed end out to a fine point, as in the tubes C and D. Either one or the other of these tubes is employed, depending upon the nature of the substance used. The sublimates condense at the upper part of the tube a, and can be there examined and recognized. These tubes, before being used, must be thoroughly dried and cleaned. In experimenting with them, they should not be exposed at once to the hottest part of the flame, but should be submitted to the heat gradually. If the substance is of such a nature that it will sublime at a low heat, the tube should be held more horizontal, while a higher heat is attained by bringing the tube to a more vertical position.
VARIOUS APPARATUS NECESSARY
Edulcorator or Washing Bottle.—Take a glass bottle of the capacity of about twelve ounces, and close the mouth of it very tight with a cork, through which a short glass tube is fitted airtight. The external end of this tube is drawn out to a point, with a very fine orifice. The bottle should be filled about half full of water. By blowing air into the bottle through the tube, and then turning it downwards, the compressed air will expel a fine stream of water through the fine orifice with considerable force. We use this washing bottle, Fig. 11, for the purpose of rinsing the small particles of coal from the reduced metals.
Agate Mortar and Pestle.—This mortar is used for the purpose of pulverizing hard substances, and for mixing fluxes. As this mortar will not yield to abrasion, there is no danger of any foreign matter becoming mixed with the substance pulverized in it. It should be cleaned after use with pumice stone. Steel mortars are very useful for the pulverization of hard bodies; but for all those substances which require great care in their analysis, and which can be obtained in very minute quantity, the agate mortar alone should be used.
A hammer made of steel is necessary. This should have the edge square.
A small anvil, polished on the surface, is also required. It is frequently used to test the malleability of metals.
A knife, for the purpose of ascertaining the hardness of minerals.
The student should also be provided with several three-edged files, and likewise with some flat ones.
A microscope, an instrument with two lenses, or with such a combination of lenses, that they may be used double or single, is frequently necessary for the examination of blowpipe experiments, or the reaction of the fluxes. Common lenses, howsoever cheap they may be, are certainly not recommended. A microscope with achromatic lenses can now be purchased so cheap that there is no longer any necessity of procuring one with the common lens. Besides, there is no reliability whatever to be placed in the revelations of the common lens; while on the contrary, the deceptive appearances which minute objects assume beneath such lenses are more injurious than otherwise. A small cheap set of magnifying glasses are all that is required for the purpose of blowpipe analysis, Fig. 12.
A small magnet should be kept on hand, for the purpose of testing reduced metals.
Nippers, for the purpose of breaking off pieces of minerals for analysis, without injuring the entire piece, are indispensable, Fig 13.
A pair of scissors is required to trim the wick of the and for the trimming of the edge of platinum foil.
A small spatula should be kept for the purpose of mixing substances with fluxes.
THE REAGENTS
Those substances which possess the property of acting upon other substances, in such a characteristic manner that they can be recognized, either by their color, or by their effervescence, or by the peculiar precipitation produced, are termed reagents. The phenomena thus produced is termed reaction. We use those reagents, or tests, for the purpose of ascertaining the presence or the absence of certain substances, through the peculiar phenomena produced when brought in contact with them.
The number of reagents employed in blowpipe analysis is not great, and therefore we shall here give a brief description of their preparation and use. It is indispensably necessary that they should be chemically pure, as every admixture of a foreign substance would only produce a false result. Some of them have a strong affinity for water, or are deliquescent, and consequently absorb it greedily from the air. These must be kept in glass bottles, with glass stoppers, fitted air-tight by grinding.
A. REAGENTS OF GENERAL USE
1. Carbonate of Soda.—(NaO, CO2) Wash the bicarbonate of soda (NaO, 2CO2) upon a filter, with cold water, until the filtrate ceases to give, after neutralization with diluted nitric acid (NO5), a precipitate with nitrate of baryta, (BaO, NO5), or nitrate of silver, (AgO, NO5). That left upon the filter we make red hot in a platinum, silver, or porcelain dish. One atom of carbonic acid is expelled, and the residue is carbonate of soda.
A solution of soda must not be changed by the addition of sulphide of ammonium. And when neutralized with hydrochloric acid, and evaporated to dryness, and again dissolved in water, there must be no residue left.
Carbonate of soda is an excellent agent in reduction, in consequence of its easy fusibility, whereby it causes the close contact of the oxides with the charcoal support, so that the blowpipe flame can reach every part of the substance under examination.
For the decomposition and determination of insoluble substances, particularly the silicates, carbonate of soda is indispensable. But for the latter purpose, we use with advantage a mixture of ten parts of soda and thirteen parts of dry carbonate of potash, which mixture fuses more easily than the carbonate of soda alone.
2. Hydrate of Baryta (BaO, HO).—This salt is used sometimes for the detection of alkalies in silicates. Mix one part of the substance with about four parts of the hydrate of baryta, and expose it to the blowpipe flame. The hydrate of baryta combines with the silicic acid, and forms the super-basic silicate of baryta, while the oxides become free. The fused mass must be dissolved in hydrochloric acid, which converts the oxides into chlorides. Evaporate to dryness, and dissolve the residue in water. The silicic acid remains insoluble.
The hydrate of baryta is prepared by mixing six parts of finely powdered heavy-spar (BaO, SO3) with one part of charcoal and one and a half parts of wheat flour, and exposing this mixture in a Hessian crucible with a cover to a strong and continuous red heat. The cooled chocolate-brown mass must be boiled with twenty parts of water, and, while boiling, there must be added the oxide of copper in sufficient quantity, or until the liquid will not impart a black color to a solution of acetate of lead (PbO, A). The liquid must be filtered while hot, and as it cools the hydrate of baryta appears in crystals. These crystals must be washed with a little cold water, and then heated at a low temperature in a porcelain dish until the crystal water is expelled. The hydrate of baryta melts by a low red heat without losing its water of hydration.
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