# can nitric acid be covered while silver is melting



## Anonymous (Mar 27, 2008)

okay, it looks like i have some good nitric acid going...

now can i put my silver in the jar and cover it while the silver melts?

also i want to know if i can leave this outside in the cold? its snowing here or do i have to take it inside.

and one more question.. if i find that a small amount of silver (a test) has melted in my nitric acid, can i just add more silver to this mix for melting as well before bringing back with copper?


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## Harold_V (Mar 28, 2008)

quicksilver said:


> can i put my silver in the jar and cover it while the silver melts?


Lets get on the same page here. Silver does not melt in nitric acid----it is dissolved. They're not the same thing. Melting is a heat process. 

You SHOULD cover your container when dissolving precious metals, but with a watch glass, so the condensate can drip back into the container. You lose values when you allow the effervescence to reach the atmosphere directly. You should not use a closed system unless you can deal with the pressures and gases that are created when dissolving metals. Hydrogen is one of the gasses that are liberated when you dissolve metals. One of the chemists on the board may add to my comments, or correct me if I'm wrong. 



> also i want to know if i can leave this outside in the cold? its snowing here or do i have to take it inside.


I did all my refining in a fume hood, using heat. While acids work when cold, in most circumstances, they work far better (faster) when heated. If you're dissolving silver, and doing it cold, I'm of the opinion you won't achieve the same level of success you might by working with warm solutions, but Irons or Lou might be a far better choice for answering this question. 



> and one more question.. if i find that a small amount of silver (a test) has melted in my nitric acid, can i just add more silver to this mix for melting as well before bringing back with copper?


If you have a solution of silver nitrate, and it still contains free nitric acid, there's nothing wrong with adding more silver to consume the nitric. Be advised that you'll achieve better precipitation with copper if you have a little free nitric, so don't consume it totally. When action slows down, it might be a good idea to remove the remaining silver, or add a little more nitric to consume all of it if that be your desire. 

Harold


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## lazersteve (Mar 28, 2008)

> also i want to know if i can leave this outside in the cold? its snowing here or do i have to take it inside.



The cold is required step when *making* the nitric acid not when using it.

Steve


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