# Silver Not Dissolving



## PhillipJ (May 20, 2007)

I am having a problem disolving pure silver in nitric acid.

I melted a .999 silver coin and fell the drops in cold water to make shot. Then put it in the 50% nitric recipe that Steve came up with. I added no water to the nitric. It did not react until heated, Then it formed a crust like concrete on it. There was some greyish purple stuff on the bottom of the beaker, from what diid come off the silver. Then it just quit reacting once the crust formed.

I tried another silver shot in 70% lab grade nitric & a little water. Again, no reaction untill heated, and the crust formed on that. I cranked up the heat and then it apparently ate thru the crust and disolved the silver inside, leaaving a spent shell of a slag like thing.

Wanted to get the silver thing down before I try to inquart karat gold. I just bought a bunch of 14 karat gold, now thinking that maybe I screwed up if it's going to give trouble.

Anyone ever had this happen to them? Or maybe I just need to heat the nitric up 1st, before adding the silver.


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## lazersteve (May 20, 2007)

Phillip the purple stuff resembles silver chloride. Here's a few questions:

- Did it form as purple stuff or did it change from white to silver after being exposed to daylight? 
- Are the round objects silver BB's in the beaker (first photo) ? 
- Is the second photo before or after the tests,
- which button (left or right) was tested with my acid recipie versus lab grade nitirc? 
- Have you tested the liquid for dissolved silver?

Steve


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## PhillipJ (May 20, 2007)

Thank you for the reply Steve.

In the beaker is the silver shot in your nitric solution. The stuff on the bottom, I think may have darkened when I took it outside for the pictures, now that you mention it.

The left button was your recipe where the concrete formed. The right one is the shell from the lab grade nitric and the lab grade needed salt to precipitate.

Your recipe seemed to self precipitate. And now I just checked your nitric solution after hours of heating and the shot is eaten out leaving the shell. Same as the lab grade left a shell of slag, except the silver was in the solution in the lab grade test.

Am thinking maybe some left over/converted sodium nitrate from making the nitric acid precipitated the silver. But still, Why the crusty formation on the lab grade test :?


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## lazersteve (May 20, 2007)

Phillip,

The only answer is that you used tap water not distilled. I surmised this because in order to form silver chloride you need chlorine, which is not an ingredient in my nitric acid recipie or lab grade nitric. It is an ingredient in tap water. When working with silver inquartation ALWAYS use distilled water. You can convert the silver chloride back into elemental silver by putting it in muriatic acid and adding aluminum foil ( Thanks Harold! :wink: ).


Steve


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## PhillipJ (May 20, 2007)

Hmm. As a habit I try to use distilled water. I may have been in a hurry tho. But I doubt it. Don't do that to me LOL. Now I don't remember again.


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## lazersteve (May 20, 2007)

Where could the chlorine have come from if not from the water?

Steve


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## PhillipJ (May 21, 2007)

Come to think of it. The water I dropped them into, to make the shot came out of the hose. Could chlorine get into the shot causing the concrete?

That might explain why it took a lot of heat to break thru the surface. The nitric acid found a hole and ate from the inside.


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