I recently took 20 grams of foils from gold fingers and dissolved them using clorox and muriatic acid. I let the mixture sit for 24 hours in the sunlight. I diluted the solution a few times over with distilled water and then added the smb (20 grams dissolved into about 200ml of water). The solution turned clear and then turned to a very dark brown, not black. The brown powder is settling to the bottom but I am concerned because the color is not black like in lazersteves video. I havent been able to find a clear answer, any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
SMB Question
- Thread starter acs500
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The powder should be chocolate red-brown to blonde in color. In the video you are referring to the powder is brown, but appears darker on camera.
Steve
Steve
Lobby
Well-known member
It's just that the color of the solution, after you add the SMB turns from the normal yellow/green to a shade of brown, to finally very dark, almost black.
If you still see any yellow in the solution, you probably still have gold in solution that hasn't been dropped by the SMB. After letting the solution settle for a bit, dip a cotton swab into it, and test it with stannous chloride to see if it contains gold. If the swab turns a purplish black, you still have gold in solution.
If you still see any yellow in the solution, you probably still have gold in solution that hasn't been dropped by the SMB. After letting the solution settle for a bit, dip a cotton swab into it, and test it with stannous chloride to see if it contains gold. If the swab turns a purplish black, you still have gold in solution.
Geo
Well-known member
i like it when my AuCl solution turns into chocolate milk. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
another question i had is I noticed in the tutorial on cleaning gold powder that it says you should use the beaker you precipitated the gold in to do all the cleaning. However I saw in the smb video that he used a large jar so i did the same. Am i suppose to transfer that into a beaker even though it says use the container you precipatated it in? seems kinda difficult to swirl my large glass jar around while letting the water boil.
I think his advice to use the same container was meant to dissuade you from filtering and leaving some values in the filter.
You can transfer to another container using a squirt bottle with water in it to persuade the powder to make its way into the new container.
You'll want to use a container that will be easy to get the dry powder out of when you go to melt it.
A smaller straight wall beaker works well for that purpose. Make sure it is very clean and free from scratches. The gold powder likes to stick in the scratches.
I use the same beaker over and over again for that purpose since it's almost impossible to get every last bit of powder out of it. I seal it in a large ziploc bag when not in use to keep contaminants out. Any gold I miss on one run will get caught in the next one.
You can transfer to another container using a squirt bottle with water in it to persuade the powder to make its way into the new container.
You'll want to use a container that will be easy to get the dry powder out of when you go to melt it.
A smaller straight wall beaker works well for that purpose. Make sure it is very clean and free from scratches. The gold powder likes to stick in the scratches.
I use the same beaker over and over again for that purpose since it's almost impossible to get every last bit of powder out of it. I seal it in a large ziploc bag when not in use to keep contaminants out. Any gold I miss on one run will get caught in the next one.
Geo
Well-known member
you should only heat solutions in heat resistant glassware. if you want to make this a full time hobby or more, you need a dedicated piece of glassware precipitate and dry your gold in. it should be clean and scratch free. the rinses and washes can be done in the same glassware you precipitate in. every time you move the material from one container to the next, you increase the chance to either loose values or to contaminate your values. always use a catch basin in the unlikely (or very likely) chance that your glassware will fail. i was drying precipitated gold in a pyrex baking dish, when the powder dried, i became impatient and moved the dish to cloth towel to cool. about three seconds later and the dish EXPLODED throwing glass shards all over. luckily the bottom stayed mostly intact so i didnt lose my gold (this time).
Lobby
Well-known member
Geo said:
Sometimes I "play" with the AuCl3 solution. I add the SMB without stirring and wait, and watch. You can almost "see" the SO2 come off the SMB as it sits on the bottom of the beaker; then the solution rapidly darkens with gold powder.
Pretty cool.
One day I'll take a video of it...
maynman1751
Well-known member
Sam! That is toooo cool! :mrgreen:
Lobby
Well-known member
samuel-a said:
Outstanding!
That is EXACTLY what mine have looked like.
My chemist brother was visiting me this past weekend, and I was processing a batch of scrap. He got to see that very experiment.
But then he told me I was using the wrong filter papers.... :mrgreen:
joem
Well-known member
That is so cool.
For those who can't see the video
I'll describe it for you
Drop the powder in the jar that looks like urine ( hey, sorry but it does).
Waaait, waiiiit for it, aaaand, whooosh a redish black cloud that moves like it's alive. MUhhahahahaha
For those who can't see the video
I'll describe it for you
Drop the powder in the jar that looks like urine ( hey, sorry but it does).
Waaait, waiiiit for it, aaaand, whooosh a redish black cloud that moves like it's alive. MUhhahahahaha
