mercury dissolved in nitric acid

[ironious]

First off I must say that I am very novis when it comes to chemistry so here I go. I dissolved some mercury in nitric acid. the mixtrue stayed clear for many days then after several weeks, I went to us some to coat a coper plate and I noticed these yello crystals in it. It also had a layer of fine powdery white crystals on the bottom of the container. Are these the same crystals and just different colors? If not what are they? I could not get an image of the white crystal powder. My camera kep focusing on the outside of the bottle. But I did get the yellow ones. see images here: http://s203.photobucket.com/user/ironious/library/crystals

Edited April 25, 2015 by ironious

[hypervalent_iodine]

Why exactly were you putting mercury in there to start with? You realise that not knowing what you're doing while playing with dangerous chemicals can lead to pretty disastrous end results? I'm not sure what the yellow stuff could be. The white crystals may be mercuric nitrate, but I would expect that to remain soluble. It is also incredibly toxic.

[Sensei]

Ironious, better ask yourself what you will do with Hg compounds after you finish experiments.. ?

 

Will you leave it on the shelf and forget?

 

And then many years later f.e. drop it on the floor, flush in toilet or put to trash.. ?

 

 

Quote from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury(I)_nitrate

 

"Solutions of mercury(I) nitrate are acidic due to slow reaction with water:

 

Hg2(NO3)2 + H2O → Hg2(NO3)(OH) + HNO3

 

Hg2(NO3)(OH) forms a yellow precipitate."

That should solve your question.

 

 

ps. You can attach photos directly in forum, using Full Editor/More Reply Options.

Edited April 25, 2015 by Sensei

[ironious]

Pleased dont lecture me on the dangers of mercury. Im very well aware what it is and I understand your concern. I used to have a website where I sold over a hundred pounds for years among other things, but Ive since moved on to more lucrative things. I also happen to know that elemental mercury is not as dangerous as most people think. A small amount of research will show you that. Elemental mercury can be swallowed and pass harmlessly through the digestive tract. It is a metal and is ignored by the body much like swallowing a penny. If youve been to the dentist and have a silver filling in your mouth then you have an elemental mercury amalgam in your mouth right now. The danger with Hg comes from its vapor which thank god is heavier then air and sinks to the ground in most cases assuming its not carried into the atmosphere by other things like hot smoke from say a coal burning energy plant which are responsible for thousands of tons of Hg being dumped into the air around the world each year. The vapor is also in florescent light bulbs and advertising signs among other things. And of course let us not forget the most dangerous form of Hg, organic salts which are sometimes uses as a preservative in vaccines. The stuff is all around us.

 

This is in a labeled heavy duty thick glass bottle that originally contained 5lbs of Hg. In the "olden days" Hg came in these super thick glass bottles that were unlikely to break if dropped. It is not likely to be forgotten and dumped down the toilet ever. To answer your other question, I was coating a coper plate which I was using in gold mining. You can roll a blob of Hg on a coper plate and maybe get it to stick with great effort or you can dissolve it in HNO3 and literally paint it on. As the HNO3 attacks the copper, the Hg falls out of solution and forms an amalgam of sorts.

 

Forgive me for being a little annoyed about your concerns. Every time I post anything anywhere on the topic of Hg, people go into fear mode and begin to warn/lecture me. I dont claim to know everything though. If I'm wrong, please correct me.

I believe Hg should be respected, not feared.

 

By the way, thank you Sensei

Edited April 25, 2015 by ironious

[Sensei]

Not without a reason mercury thermometers were banned by majority of EU countries (except ~6)..

[hypervalent_iodine]

You know, there's a pretty damn good reason that everywhere you go with these problems, you get lectured on it. I'm all for respecting chemicals rather than fearing them, but that's no reason to take stupid risks. The fact is, mercury is toxic and you should avoid it unless you absolutely need to use it. That you had no idea what you were actually making by putting it into nitric acid should be of considerable concern to yourself. The stuff that you seem to have made is in fact quite toxic and can lead to mercury poisoning.

[John Cuthber]

Pleased dont lecture me on the dangers of mercury. Im very well aware what it is and I understand your concern. I used to have a website where I sold over a hundred pounds for years among other things, but Ive since moved on to more lucrative things. I also happen to know that elemental mercury is not as dangerous as most people think. A small amount of research will show you that. Elemental mercury can be swallowed and pass harmlessly through the digestive tract. It is a metal and is ignored by the body much like swallowing a penny. If youve been to the dentist and have a silver filling in your mouth then you have an elemental mercury amalgam in your mouth right now. The danger with Hg comes from its vapor which thank god is heavier then air and sinks to the ground in most cases assuming its not carried into the atmosphere by other things like hot smoke from say a coal burning energy plant which are responsible for thousands of tons of Hg being dumped into the air around the world each year. The vapor is also in florescent light bulbs and advertising signs among other things. And of course let us not forget the most dangerous form of Hg, organic salts which are sometimes uses as a preservative in vaccines. The stuff is all around us.

 

This is in a labeled heavy duty thick glass bottle that originally contained 5lbs of Hg. In the "olden days" Hg came in these super thick glass bottles that were unlikely to break if dropped. It is not likely to be forgotten and dumped down the toilet ever. To answer your other question, I was coating a coper plate which I was using in gold mining. You can roll a blob of Hg on a coper plate and maybe get it to stick with great effort or you can dissolve it in HNO3 and literally paint it on. As the HNO3 attacks the copper, the Hg falls out of solution and forms an amalgam of sorts.

 

Forgive me for being a little annoyed about your concerns. Every time I post anything anywhere on the topic of Hg, people go into fear mode and begin to warn/lecture me. I dont claim to know everything though. If I'm wrong, please correct me.

I believe Hg should be respected, not feared.

 

By the way, thank you Sensei

While you are learning some chemistry, please learn som basic physics..

Re. "The danger with Hg comes from its vapor which thank god is heavier then air and sinks to the ground in most cases"

Guess again.

From

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_matter#The_four_fundamental_states

" A gas has no definite shape or volume, but occupies the entire container in which it is confined. "

 

So, the mercury concentration may be slightly higher at the bottom of a container, but it doesn't sink to the ground.

If that sort of thing happened in the real world (rather than just your imagination) we would be unable to breathe because all the dense CO2 would settle to the bottom of the atmosphere and displace the oxygen.

 

On a vaguely related not, glass is still brittle, even when it's thick.

That's why mercury was commonly kept in steel containers.

[Enthalpy]

Mercury thermometers are banned in most EU but not fluorescent light bulbs which do contain some mercury and occasionally go broken.

[John Cuthber]

Mercury thermometers are banned in most EU but not fluorescent light bulbs which do contain some mercury and occasionally go broken.

There are lots of things you can fill a thermometer with, but relatively few that do a good job in lamps.

Perhaps you would like to explain why that's got anything to do with the topic.

[ironious]

All im hearing is fear here. I was a little concerned about my constant exposure to Hg so I got tested. All normal levels. For the purpose of what I was disolving the hg, it was not nessessary to know the chemical composition. I did and still have stored it in a secure location. According the World Health Organization, elemental mercury can be swallowed with no ill effects and is harmlessly passed. Also pure Hg gas is heavier then air. You think you chemistry majors would know that. It sinks but that does not mean it cannot mis with air and become boyant. Just fyi, the Hg I was obtaining was usually heavily contaminated so I built a glass and copper water cooled mercury still. For all those saying to avoid and be scared, please put your man pants on. Reply as you wish, I wont be returning. I dont trust people who live in fear based on media fearmongering. By your reasoning, all dangeriouss chemicals should be avoided. There are chemicals that are way more toxic then hg which so happened to be used in a lot of scientific equipment for CHEMISTRY labs.

Edited May 4, 2015 by ironious

[hypervalent_iodine]

All im hearing is fear here. I was a little concerned about my constant exposure to Hg so I got tested. All normal levels. For the purpose of what I was disolving the hg, it was not nessessary to know the chemical composition. I did and still have stored it in a secure location. According the World Health Organization, elemental mercury can be swallowed with no ill effects and is harmlessly passed. Also pure Hg gas is heavier then air. You think you chemistry majors would know that. It sinks but that does not mean it cannot mis with air and become boyant. Just fyi, the Hg I was obtaining was usually heavily contaminated so I built a glass and copper water cooled mercury still. For all those saying to avoid and be scared, please put your man pants on. Reply as you wish, I wont be returning. I dont trust people who live in fear based on media fearmongering. By your reasoning, all dangeriouss chemicals should be avoided. There are chemicals that are way more toxic then hg which so happened to be used in a lot of scientific equipment for CHEMISTRY labs.

 

If that is what you are hearing, then you haven't been listening. No one is saying to be afraid of anything*, rather that you should minimise the risks to your person and the people around you. You do not seem to have much experience or knowledge in chemistry, which makes your dismissal of the advice of people who do a little baffling.

 

You are right, there are things far more toxic than elemental Hg. The mercuric nitrate you inadvertently made, for one.

 

 

* (unless you're a female, apparently - excuse me as I go and cower in the corner, while the rest of you adjust your man pants)

[John Cuthber]

Also pure Hg gas is heavier then air. You think you chemistry majors would know that. It sinks but that does not mean it cannot mis with air and become boyant.

Getting that wrong once suggested that you are uninformed.

Getting it deliberately wrong a second time, and after it has been pointed out, suggests that you are too dumb to learn.

That, combined with toxic chemicals, doesn't bode well.

[GM11]

Hg will release a vapour at standard temp and pressure, it is EXTRWEMELY toxic. There is a saying 'Mad as a Hatter', this saying comes from an area in the UK called Luton. Luton back in the 18th and 19th Centuary was an area renowned for the manufacture of hats, The hat making process used Hg in liquid form. MANY of the people working in this industry had toxic poisoning and went mad, hence the saying.

The Hg in your teeth is normally removed now, however it is a bound alloy with no free Hg, so isnt per se dangerous.

To get rid of elemental mercury you could use sulphur. Gold mining with mercury is a totaly uneccesary process with stiff penalty if caught, you may like Hg in your food chain however I share the same chain and prefer as little Hg in it as I can get.