Henley's Twentieth Century Formulas, Recipes and Processes. Various
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tin, bismuth, lead, and silver combine with mercury with absorption of heat. The amalgamation of 162 parts of quicksilver with 21 parts of lead, 12 parts of tin or of antimony, and 28.5 parts of bismuth, lowers the temperature of the mixture 79° F.
Amalgams formed with disengagement of heat are electro-negative with reference to the metals alloyed with the quicksilver. The products with absorption of heat are electro-negative with reference to the metals combined with the quicksilver; consequently, in a battery of elements of pure cadmium and amalgamated cadmium, the cadmium will be the negative pole; in case of zinc and amalgamated zinc, the zinc will be the positive pole.
Heat decomposes all amalgams, vaporizing the mercury and leaving the metal alloys as a residue.
Water is decomposed by the amalgams of potassium and sodium, because the heat of formation of these amalgams, although considerable, is even less than the heat disengaged by potassium and sodium, on decomposing water. The alkaline amalgams may, therefore, serve as a source of nascent hydrogen in presence of water, giving rise to an action less energetic, and often more advantageous, than that of the alkaline metals alone. Thus is caused the frequent employment of sodium amalgam for hydrogenizing a large number of bodies. As a consequence of their action on water, the alkaline amalgams are changed by moist air, with production of free alkali or alkaline carbonate.
Applications Of Potassium Amalgams.
—I.—They furnish a process for preparing potassium by the decomposition of potash by the electric current, by employing quicksilver as the cathode, and vaporizing the quicksilver of the amalgam formed by heating this in a current of dry hydrogen.
II.—They can serve for the preparation of the amalgams of the metals, other than those of the alkaline group, by decomposing the salts of these metals, with formation of a salt of potash and of the amalgam of the metal corresponding to the original salt.
III.—They can be employed as a source of nascent hydrogen in presence of water for hydrogenizing many substances.
Applications Of Sodium Amalgams.
—These are nearly the same as those of the potassium amalgams, but the sodium amalgams are employed almost exclusively, because sodium is easier to handle than potassium, and is cheaper. These employments are the following:
I.—Sodium amalgam furnishes a process for the preparation of sodium when soda is decomposed by means of the electric current, employing quicksilver as the cathode, and afterwards vaporizing the quicksilver of the amalgam formed by heating this in a current of dry hydrogen.
II.—Amalgams of sodium serve for the preparation of amalgams of the other metals, particularly alkaline earthy metals and metals of high fusing points, by decomposing the salts of these metals, with formation of a salt of soda and of the amalgam of the metal corresponding to the original salt.
III.—They serve for amalgamating superficially the metals of high fusing point, called “refractory,” such as iron and platinum, when a well-cleaned plate of these metals is immersed in sodium amalgam in presence of water.
IV.—An amalgam of 2 or 3 per cent of sodium is employed in the processes of extraction of gold by amalgamation. It has the property of rendering quicksilver more brilliant, and consequently more energetic, by acting as a deoxidant on the pellicle of oxide formed on its surface in presence of certain ores, which, by keeping it separated from the particles of gold, destroy its activity. Sodium amalgam of 3 per cent is utilized with success for the amalgamated plates employed in crushers and other apparatus for treating the ores of gold. If a few drops of this amalgam are spread on a plate of copper, of tin, or of zinc, a brilliant coating of an amalgam of tin, copper, or zinc is immediately formed.
V.—Amalgams of from 2 to 8 per cent of sodium serve frequently in laboratories for reducing or hydrogenizing organic combinations, without running the risk of a partial destruction of these compounds by too intense action, as may occur by employing free sodium instead of its amalgam.
Applications Of Barium Amalgams.
—These can, by distillation, furnish barium. It is one of the processes for preparing this metal, which, when thus obtained, almost always retains a little sodium.
Applications Of Strontium Amalgams.
—These amalgams, washed and dried rapidly immediately after their preparation, and then heated to a nascent red {87} in a current of dry hydrogen, yield a fused mass of strontium.
Applications Of Cadmium Amalgams.
—Amalgams of cadmium, formed of equal weights of cadmium and quicksilver, have much power of cohesion and are quite malleable; the case is the same with an amalgam formed of 1 part of cadmium and 2 parts of quicksilver. They are used as dental cements for plugging teeth; for the same purpose an amalgam of 2 parts of quicksilver, 1 part of cadmium, and 2 parts of tin may be used.
Applications Of Zinc Amalgams.
—The principal employment of zinc amalgams is their use as a cathode or negative electrode in the batteries of Munson, Daniels, and Lechanché. This combination is designed to render the zinc non-attackable by the exciting liquid of the battery with open circuit. The action of the mercury is to prevent the zinc from forming a large number of small voltaic elements when foreign bodies are mingled with the metal; in a word, the giving to ordinary zinc the properties of pure zinc, and consequently of causing a great saving in expense.
For amalgamating a zinc plate it is plunged for a few seconds into water in which there is one-sixteenth in volume of sulphuric acid, then rubbing with a copper-wire brush which has been dipped in the quicksilver. The mercury takes more readily on the zinc when, after the zinc has been cleaned with water sharpened with sulphuric acid, it is moistened with a solution of corrosive sublimate, which is reduced and furnishes a first very thin coat of amalgam, on which the quicksilver is immediately fixed by simple immersion without rubbing.
The zinc of a battery may be amalgamated by putting at the bottom of the compartment containing each element, a little quicksilver in such a way that the zinc touches the liquid. The amalgamation is effected under the influence of the current, but this process applies only on condition that the zinc alone touches the bottom of the vessel containing the quicksilver.
Applications Of Manganese Amalgams.
—These may serve for the preparation of manganese. For this purpose it is sufficient to distill in a current of pure hydrogen. The manganese remains in the form of a grayish powder.
Applications Of Tin Amalgams.
—I.—Tinning of glass. This operation is accomplished in the following manner: On a cast-iron table, quite horizontal, a sheet of tin of the dimensions of the glass is spread out and covered with a layer of quicksilver, 5 or 6 millimeters in thickness. The glass is made to slide on the sheet of tin in such a way as to drive off the excess of quicksilver; when the two surfaces are covered without interposition of air, weights are placed on the glass. In a few days, the glass may be removed, having been covered with an adhering pellicle of amalgam of 4 parts of tin and 1 part of quicksilver. (See also Mirrors.)
II.—An amalgam consisting of 2 parts of zinc and 1 part tin may be used for covering the cushions of frictional electric machines. This amalgam is prepared by first melting the zinc and tin in a crucible and adding the quicksilver previously heated.
III.—Mention has been made of the cadmium amalgam employed for plugging teeth, an amalgam of 2 parts of quicksilver, 2 parts of tin, and 1 part of cadmium. For the same purpose an amalgam of tin, silver, and gold is employed. (See also Cements, Dental.)
Applications Of Copper Amalgams.
—I.—An amalgam of 30 per cent of