That degree of analogy and difference which exists between iron, cobalt, and nickel repeats itself in the corresponding triad ruthenium, rhodium, and palladium, and also in the heavy platinum metals, osmium, iridium, and platinum. These nine metals form Group VIII. of the elements in the periodic system, being the intermediate group between the even elements of the large periods and the uneven, among which we know zinc, cadmium, and mercury in Group II. Copper, silver, and gold complete[1]this transition, because their properties place them in proximity to nickel, palladium, and platinum on the one hand, and to zinc, cadmium, and mercury on the other. Just as Zn, Cd, and Hg; Fe, Ru, and Os; Co, Rh, and Ir; Ni, Pd, and Pt, resemble each other in many respects, so also do Cu, Ag, and Au. Thus, for example, the atomic weight of copper Cu = 63, and in all its properties it stands between Ni = 59 and Zn = 65. But as the transition from Group VIII. to Group II., where zinc is situated, cannot be otherwise than through Group I., so in copper there are certain properties of the elements of Group I. Thus it gives a suboxide, Cu2O, and salts, CuX, like the elements of Group I., although at the same time it forms an oxide, CuO, and salts CuX2, like nickel and zinc. In the state of the oxide, CuO, and the salts, CuX2, copper is analogous to zinc, judging from the insolubility of the carbonates, phosphates, and similar salts, and by the isomorphism, and other characters.[2]In the cuprous salts there is undoubtedly a great resemblance to the silversalts—thus, for example, silver chloride, AgCl, is characterised by its insolubility and capacity of combining with ammonia, and in this respect cuprous chloride closely resembles it, for it is also insoluble in water, and combines with ammonia and dissolves in it, &c. Its composition is also RCl, the same as AgCl, NaCl, KCl, &c., and silver in many compounds resembles, and is even isomorphous with, sodium, so that this again justifies their being brought together. Silver chloride, cuprous chloride, and sodium chloride crystallise in the regular system. Besides which, the specific heats of copper and silver require that they should have the atomic weights ascribed to them. To the oxides Cu2O and Ag2O there are corresponding sulphides Ag2S and Cu2S. They both occur in nature in crystals of the rhombic system, and, what is most important, copper glance contains an isomorphous mixture of them both, and retains the form of copper glance with various proportions of copper and silver, and therefore has the composition R2S where R = Cu, Ag.
Notwithstanding the resemblance in the atomic composition of the cuprous compounds, CuX, and silver compounds, AgX, with the compounds of the alkali metals KX, NaX, there is a considerable degree of difference between these two series of elements. This difference is clearly seen in the fact that the alkali metals belong to those elements which combine with extreme facility with oxygen, decompose water, and form the most alkaline bases; whilst silver and copper are oxidised with difficulty, form less energetic oxides, and do not decompose water, even at a rather high temperature. Moreover, they only displace hydrogen from very few acids. The difference between them is also seen in the dissimilarity of the properties of many of the corresponding compounds. Thus cuprous oxide, Cu2O, and silver oxide, Ag2O, are insoluble in water: the cuprous and silver carbonates, chlorides, and sulphates are also sparingly soluble in water. The oxides of silver and copper are also easily reduced to metal. This difference in properties is in intimate relation with that difference in the density of the metals which exists in this case. The alkali metals belong to the lightest, and copper and silver to the heaviest, and therefore the distance between the molecules in these metals is very dissimilar—it is greater for the former than the latter (tables in ChapterXV.). From the point of view of the periodic law, this difference between copper and silver and such elements of Group I. as potassium and rubidium, is clearly seen from the fact that copper and silverstand in the middle of those large periods (for example, K, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, As, Se, Br) which start with the true metals of the alkalis—that is to say, the analogy and difference between potassium and copper are of the same nature as that between chromium and selenium, or vanadium and arsenic.
Copperis one of the few metals which have long been known in a metallic form. The Greeks and Romans imported copper chiefly from the island of Cyprus—whence its Latin name,cuprum. It was known to the ancients before iron, and was used, especially when alloyed with other metals, for arms and domestic utensils. That copper was known to the ancients will be understood from the fact that it occurs, although rarely, in anative state, and is easily extracted from its other natural compounds. Among the latter are the oxygen compounds of copper. When ignited with charcoal, they easily give up their oxygen to it, and yield metallic copper; hydrogen also easily takes up the oxygen from copper oxide when heated. Copper occurs in a native state, sometimes in association with other ores, in many parts of the Urals and in Sweden, and in considerable masses in America, especially in the neighbourhood of the great American lakes; and also in Chili, Japan, and China. The oxygen compounds of copper are also of somewhat common occurrence in certain localities; in this respect certain deposits of the Urals are especially famous. The geological period of the Urals (Permian) is characterised by a considerable distribution of copper ores. Copper is met with in the form ofcuprous oxide, orsuboxide of copper, Cu2O, and is then known asred copper ore, because it forms red masses which not unfrequently are crystallised in the regular system. It is found much more rarely in the state ofcupric oxide, CuO, and is then calledblack copper ore. The most common of the oxygenised compounds of copper are thebasic carbonatescorresponding with the oxides. That these compounds are undoubtedly of aqueous origin is apparent, not only from the fact that specimens are frequently found of a gradual transition from the metallic, sulphuretted, and oxidised copper into its various carbonates, but also from the presence of water in their composition, and from the laminar, reniform structure which many of them present. In this respectmalachiteis particularly well known; it is used as a green paint and also for ornaments, owing to the diversity of the shades of colour presented by the different layers of deposited malachite. The composition of malachite corresponds with the basic carbonate containing one molecule of cupric carbonate to one of hydroxide: CuCO3,CuH2O2. In this form the copper frequently occurs in admixture with various sedimentary rocks, forming large strata, which confirms the aqueous originof these compounds. There are many such localities in the Perm and other Governments bounding the Urals.Blue carbonate of copper, orazurite, is also often met with in the same localities; it contains the same ingredients as malachite, but in a different proportion, its composition being CuH2O2,2CuCO3. Both these substances may be obtained artificially by the action of the alkali carbonates on solutions of cupric salts at various temperatures. These native carbonates are often used for the extraction of copper, all the more as they very readily give metallic copper, evolving water and carbonic anhydride when ignited, and leaving the easily-reducible cupric oxide. Copper is, however, still more often met with in the form of the sulphides. The sulphides of copper generally occur in chemical combination with the sulphides of iron.[3]These copper-sulphur compounds (copper pyrites CuFeS2, variegated copper ore Cu3FeS3, &c.) generally occur in veins in a rock gangue.
The extraction of copper from its oxide oresdoes not present any difficulty, because the copper, when ignited with charcoal and melted, is reduced from the impurities which accompany it. This mode of smelting copper ores is carried on in cupola or cylindrical furnaces, fluxes forming a slag being added to the mixture of ore and charcoal.The smelted copper still contains sulphur, iron, and other metallic impurities, from which it is freed by fusion in reverberatory furnaces, with access of air to the surface of the molten metal, as the iron and sulphur are more easily oxidised than the copper. The iron then separates as oxides, which collect in the slag.[4]
Copper is characterised by its red colour, which distinguishes it from all other metals. Pure copper is soft, and may be beaten out by a hammer at the ordinary temperature, and when hot may be rolled into very thin sheets. Extremely thin leaves of copper transmit a green light. The tenacity of copper is also considerable, and next to iron it is one of the most durable metals in this respect. Copper wire of 1 sq. millimetre in section only breaks under a weight of 45 kilograms. The specific gravity of copper is 8·8, unless it contains cavities due to the fact that molten copper absorbs oxygen from the air, which is disengaged on cooling, and therefore gives a porous mass whose density is much less. Rolled copper, and also that which is deposited by the electric current, has a comparatively high density. Copper melts at a bright red heat, about 1050°, although below the temperature at which many kinds of cast iron melt. At a high temperature it is converted into vapour, which communicates a green colour to the flame. Both native copper and that cooled from a molten state crystallise in regular octahedra. Copper is not oxidised in dry air at the ordinary temperature, but when calcined it becomes coated with a layer of oxide, and it does not burn even at the highest temperature. Copper, when calcined in air, forms either the red cuprous oxide or the black cupric oxide,according to the temperature and quantity of air supplied. In air at the ordinary temperature, copper—as everyone knows—becomes coated with a brown layer of oxides or a green coating of basic salts, due to the action of the damp air containing carbonic acid. If this action continue for a prolonged time, the copper is covered with a thick coating of basic carbonate, or the so-called verdigris (theærugo nobilisof ancient statues). This is due to the fact that copper, although scarcely capable of oxidising by itself,[5]in the presence of water and acids—even very feeble acids, like carbonic acid—absorbs oxygen from the air and forms salts, which is a very characteristic property of it (and of lead).[6]Copper does not decompose water, and therefore does not disengagehydrogen from it either at the ordinary or at high temperatures. Nor does copper liberate hydrogen from the oxygen acids; these act on it in two ways: they either give up a portion of their oxygen, forming lower grades of oxidation, or else only react in the presence of air. Thus, when nitric acid acts on copper it evolves nitric oxide, the copper being oxidised at the expense of the nitric acid. In the same way copper converts sulphuric acid into the lower grade of oxidation—into sulphurous anhydride, SO2. In these cases the copper is oxidised to copper oxide, which combines with the excess of acid taken, and therefore forms a cupric salt, CuX2. Dilute nitric acid does not act on copper at the ordinary temperature, but when heated it reacts with great ease; dilute sulphuric acid does not act on copper except in presence of air.
Both the oxides of copper, Cu2O and CuO, are unacted on by air, and, as already mentioned, they both occur in nature.[6 bis]However, in the majority of cases copper is obtained in the form of cupric oxide and its salts—and the copper compounds used industrially generally belong to this type. This is due to the fact that thecuprous compounds absorb oxygenfrom the air and pass into cupric compounds. The cupric compounds may serve as the source for the preparation of cuprous oxide, because many reducing agents are capable of deoxidising the oxide into the suboxide. Organic substances are most generally employed for this purpose, and especially saccharine substances, which are able, in the presence of alkalis, to undergo oxidation at the expense of the oxygen of the cupric oxide, and to give acids which combine with the alkali: 2CuO - O = Cu2O. In this case the deoxidation of the copper may be carried further and metallic copper obtained, if only the reaction be aided by heat. Thus, for example, a fine powder of metallic copper may be obtained by heating an ammoniacal solution of cupric oxide with caustic potash and grape sugar. But if the reducing action of the saccharine substance proceed in the presence of a sufficient quantity of alkali insolution, and at not too high a temperature, cuprous oxide is obtained. To see this reaction clearly, it is not sufficient to take any cupric salt, because the alkali necessary for the reaction might precipitate cupric oxide—it is necessary to add previously some substance which will prevent this precipitation. Among such substances, tartaric acid, C4H6O6, is one of the best. In the presence of a sufficient quantity of tartaric acid, any amount of alkali may be added to a solution of cupric salt without producing a precipitate, because a soluble double salt of cupric oxide and alkali is then formed. If glucose (for instance, honey or molasses) be added to such an alkaline tartaric solution, and the temperature be slightly raised, it first gives a yellow precipitate (this is cuprous hydroxide, CuHO), and then, on boiling, a red precipitate of (anhydrous) cuprous oxide. If such a mixture be left for a long time at the ordinary temperature, it deposits well-formed crystals of anhydrous cuprous oxide belonging to the regular system.[7]
Cupric chloride, CuCl2, when ignited, givescuprous chloride, CuCl—i.e.the salt corresponding with suboxide of copper—and therefore cuprous chloride is always formed when copper enters into reaction with chlorine at a high temperature. Thus, for example, when copper is calcined with mercuric chloride, it forms cuprous chloride and vapours of mercury. The same substance is obtained on heating metallic copper in hydrochloric acid, hydrogen being disengaged; but this reaction only proceeds with finely-divided copper, as hydrochloric acid acts very feebly on compact masses of copper, and, in the presence of air, gives cupric chloride. The green solution of cupric chloride is decolorised by metallic copper, cuprous chloride being formed; but this reaction is only accomplished with ease when the solution is very concentrated and in the presence of an excess of hydrochloric acid to dissolve the cuprous chloride. The addition of water to the solution precipitates the cuprous chloride, because it is less soluble in dilute than in strong hydrochloric acid. Many reducing agents which are able to take up half the oxygen from cupric oxide are able, in the presence of hydrochloric acid, to form cuprous chloride. Stannous salts, sulphurous anhydride, alkali sulphites, phosphorous and hypophosphorous acids, and many similar reducing agents, act in this manner. The usual method of preparing cuprous chloride consists in passing sulphurous anhydride into a very strong solution of cupric chloride: 2CuCl2+ SO2+ 2H2O = 2CuCl + 2HCl + H2SO4. Cuprous chloride forms colourless cubic crystals which are insoluble in water. It is easily fusible, and even volatile. Under the action of oxidising agents, it passes into the cupric salt, and it absorbs oxygen from moist air, forming cupric oxychloride, Cu2Cl2O.Aqueous ammoniaeasilydissolvescuprous chloride as well as cuprous oxide; the solution also turns blue on exposure to the air. Thus an ammoniacal solution of cuprous chloride serves as an excellent absorbent for oxygen; but this solution absorbs not only oxygen, but also certain other gases—for example, carbonic oxide and acetylene.[8]
When copper is oxidised with a considerable quantity of oxygen at a high temperature, or at the ordinary temperature in the presence of acids, and also when it decomposes acids, converting them into lower grades of oxidation (for example, when submitted to the action of nitric and sulphuric acids), it formscupric oxide, CuO, or, in the presence of acids, cupric salts. Copper rust, or that black mass which forms on the surface of copper when it is calcined, consists of cupric oxide. The coating of the oxidised copper is very easily separated from the metallic copper, because it is brittle and very easily peels off, when it is struck or immersed in water. Many copper salts (forinstance, the nitrite and carbonate) leave oxide of copper[8 bis]in the form of friable black powder, after being ignited. If the ignition be carried further, Cu2O may be formed from the CuO.[8 tri]Anhydrous cupric oxide is very easily dissolved in acids, forming cupric salts, CuX2. They are analogous to the salts MgX2, ZnX2, NiX2, FeX2, in many respects. On adding potassium or ammonium hydroxide to a solution of a cupric salt, it forms a gelatinous blue precipitate of the hydrated oxide of copper, CuH2O2, insoluble in water. The resultant precipitateis re-dissolved by an excess of ammonia, and gives a very beautiful azure blue solution, of so intense a colour that the presence of small traces of cupric salts may be discovered by this means.[9]An excess ofpotassium or sodium hydroxide does not dissolve cupric hydroxide. A hot solution gives a black precipitate of the anhydrous oxide instead of the blue precipitate, and the precipitate of the hydroxide of copper becomes granular, and turns black when the solution is heated. This is due to the fact that the blue hydroxide is exceedingly unstable, and when slightly heated it loses the elements of water and gives the black anhydrous cupric oxide: CuH2O2= CuO + H2O.
Cupric oxide fuses at a strong heat, and on cooling forms a heavy crystalline mass, which is black, opaque, and somewhat tenacious. It is a feebly energetic base, so that not only do the oxides of the metals of the alkalis and alkaline earths displace it from its compounds, but even such oxides as those of lead and silver precipitate it from solutions, which is partially due to these oxides being soluble, although but slightly so, in water. However, cupric oxide, and especially the hydroxide, easily combines with even the least energetic acids, and does not give any compounds with bases; but, on the other hand,it easily forms basic salts,[9 bis]and in this respect outstrips magnesium and recalls theoxides of lead or mercury. Hence the hydroxide of copper dissolves in solutions of neutral cupric salts. The cupric salts are generally blue or green, because cupric hydroxide itself is coloured. But some of the salts in the anhydrous state are colourless.[10]
The commonest normal salt isblue vitriol—i.e.the normal cupric sulphate. It generally contains five molecules of water of crystallisation, CuSO4,5H2O. It forms the product of the action of strong sulphuric acid on copper, sulphurous anhydride being evolved. The same salt is obtained in practice by carefully roasting sulphuretted ores of copper, and also by the action of water holding oxygen in solution on them: CuS + O4= CuSO4. This salt forms a by-product, obtained in gold refineries, when the silver is precipitated from the sulphuric acid solution by means of copper. It is also obtained by pouring dilute sulphuric acid over sheet copper in the presence of air, or by heating cupric oxide or carbonate in sulphuric acid. The crystals of this salt belong to the triclinic system, have a specific gravity of 2·19, are of a beautiful blue colour, and give a solution of the same colour. 100 parts of water at 0° dissolve 15, at 25° 23, and at 100° about 45 parts of cupric sulphate, CuSO4.[10 bis]At 100° this salt loses a portion of itswater of crystallisation, which it only parts with entirely at a high temperature (220°) and then gives a white powder of the anhydrous sulphate; and the latter, on further calcination, loses the elements of sulphuric anhydride, leaving cupric oxide, like all the cupric salts. The anhydrous (colourless) cupric sulphate is sometimes used for absorbing water; it turns blue in the process. It offers the advantage that it retains both hydrochloric acid and water, but not carbonic anhydride.[11]Cupric sulphate is used for steeping seed corn; this is said to prevent the growth of certain parasites on the plants. In the arts a considerable quantity of cupric sulphate is also used in the preparation of other copper salts—for instance, of certain pigments[11 bis]—and a particularlylarge quantity is usedin the galvanoplastic process, which consists in the deposition of copper from a solution of cupric sulphate by the action of a galvanic current, when the metallic copper is deposited on the negative pole and takes the shape of the latter. The description of the processes of galvanoplastic art introduced by Jacobi in St. Petersburg forms a part of applied physics, and will not be touched on here, and we will only mention that, although first introduced for small articles, it is now used for such articles as type moulds (clichés), for maps, prints, &c., and also for large statues, and for the deposition of iron, zinc, nickel, gold, silver, &c. on other metals and materials. The beginning of the application of the galvanic current to the practical extraction of metals from solutions has also been established, especially since the dynamo-electric machines of Gramme, Siemens, and others have rendered it possible to cheaply convert the mechanical motion of the steam engine into an electric current. It is to be expected that the application of the electric current, which has long since given such important results in chemistry, will, in the near future, play an important part in technical processes, the example being shown by electric lighting.
The alloys of copperwith certain metals, and especially with zinc and tin, are easily formed by directly melting the metals together. They are easily cast into moulds, forged, and worked like copper, whilst they are much more durable in the air, and are therefore frequently used in the arts. Even the ancients used exclusively alloys of copper, and not pure copper, but its alloys with tin or different kinds of bronze (Chapter XVIII., Note35). The alloys of copper with zinc are calledbrassor ‘yellow metal.’ Brass contains about 32 p.c. of zinc; generally, however, it does not contain more than 65 p.c. of copper. The remainder is composed of lead and tin, which usually occur, although in small quantities, in brass. Yellow metal contains about 40 p.c. of zinc.[12]The addition of zinc to copper changes thecolour of the latter to a considerable degree; with a certain amount of zinc the colour of the copper becomes yellow, and with a still larger proportion of zinc an alloy is formed which has a greenish tint. In those alloys of zinc and copper which contain a larger amount of zinc than of copper, the yellow colour disappears and is replaced by a greyish colour. But when the amount of zinc is diminished to about 20 p.c., the alloy is red and hard, and is called ‘tombac.’ A contraction takes place in alloying copper with zinc, so that the volume of the alloy is less than that of either metal individually. The zinc volatilises on prolonged heating at a high temperature and the excess of metallic copper remains behind. When heated in the air, the zinc oxidises before the copper, so that all the zinc alloyed with copper may be removed from the copper by this means. An important property of brass containing about 30 p.c. of zinc is that it is soft and malleable in the cold, but becomes somewhat brittle when heated. We may also mention that ordinary copper coins contain, in order to render them hard, tin, zinc, and iron (Cu = 95 p.c.); that it is now customary to add a small amount of phosphorus to copper and bronze, for the same purpose; and also that copper is added to silver and gold in coining, &c. to render it hard; moreover, in Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium, and other countries, a silver-white alloy (melchior, German silver, &c.), for base coinage and other purposes, is prepared from brass and nickel (from 10 to 20 p.c. of nickel; 20 to 30 p.c. zinc: 50 to 70 p.c. copper), or directly from copper and nickel, or, more rarely, from an alloy containing silver, nickel, and copper.[12 bis]
Copper, in its cuprous compounds, is so analogous tosilver, thatwere there no cupric compounds, or if silver gave stable compounds of the higher oxide, AgO, the resemblance would be as close as that between chlorine and bromine or zinc and cadmium; but silver compounds corresponding to AgO are quite unknown. Although silver peroxide—which was regarded as AgO, but which Berthelot (1880) recognised as the sesquioxide Ag2O3—is known, still it does not form any true salts, and consequently cannot be placed along with cupric oxide. In distinction to copper, silver as a metal does not oxidise under the influence of heat; and its oxides, Ag2O and Ag2O3, easily lose oxygen (seeNote8 tri). Silver doesnot oxidisein air at the ordinary pressure, and is therefore classed among the so-callednoble metals. It has a white colour, which is much purer than that of any other known metal, especially when the metal is chemically pure. In the arts silver is always used alloyed, because chemically-pure silver is so soft that it wears exceedingly easily, whilst when fused with a small amount of copper, it becomes very hard, without losing its colour.[13]
Silver occurs innature, both in a native state and in certain compounds. Native silver, however, is of rather rare occurrence. A far greater quantity of silver occurs in combination with sulphur, and especially in the form ofsilver sulphide, Ag2S, with lead sulphide or copper sulphide, or the ores of various other metals. The largest amount of silver is extracted from the lead in which it occurs. If this lead be calcined in the presence of air, it oxidises, and the resultant lead oxide, PbO (‘litharge’ or ‘silberglätte,’ as it is called), melts into a mobile liquid, which is easily removed. The silver remains in an unoxidised metallic state.[14]This process is calledcupellation.
Commercial silver generally contains copper, and, more rarely, other metallic impurities also. Chemicallypure silveris obtained either by cupellation or by subjecting ordinary silver to the following treatment. The silver is first dissolved in nitric acid, which converts it and the copper into nitrates, Cu(NO3)2and AgNO3; hydrochloric acid is then added to the resultant solution (green, owing to the presence of the cupric salt), which is considerably diluted with water in order to retain the lead chloride in solution if the silver contained lead. The copper and many other metals remain in solution, whilst the silver is precipitated as silver chloride. The precipitate is allowed to settle, and the liquid is decanted off; the precipitate is then washed and fused with sodium carbonate. A double decomposition then takes place, sodium chloride and silver carbonate being formed; but the latter decomposes into metallic silver, because the silver oxide is decomposed by heat: Ag2CO3= Ag2+ O + CO2. The silver chloride may also be mixed with metallic zinc, sulphuric acid, and water, and left for some time, when the zinc removes the chlorine from the silver chloride and precipitates the silver as a powder. This finely-divided silver is called ‘molecular silver.’[15]
Chemically-pure silver has an exceeding pure white colour, and a specific gravity of 10·5. Solid silver is lighter than the molten metal, and therefore a piece of silver floats on the latter. The fusing-point of silver is about 950° C., and at the high temperature attained by the combustion of detonating gas it volatilises.[16]By employing silver reduced from silver chloride by milk sugar and caustic potash, and distilling it, Stas obtained silver purer than that obtained by any other means; in fact, this was perfectly pure silver. The vapour of silver has a very beautiful green colour, which is seen when a silver wire is placed in an oxyhydrogen flame.[17]
It has long been known (Wöhler) that when nitrate of silver, AgNO3, reacts as an oxidising agent upon citrates and tartrates, it is able under certain conditions to give either a salt of suboxide of silver (see Note19) or a red solution, or to give a precipitate of metallic silver reduced at the expense of the organic substances. In 1889 Carey Lea, in his researches on this class of reactions, showed thatsolublesilveris here formed, which he calledallotropic silver. It may be obtained by taking 200 c.c. of a 10 per cent. solution of AgNO3and quickly adding a mixture (neutralised with NaHO) of 200 c.c. of a 30 per cent. solution of FeSO4and 200 c.c. of a 40 per cent. solution of sodium citrate. A lilac precipitate is obtained, which is collected on a filter (the precipitate becomes blue) and washed with a solution of NH4NO3. It then becomes soluble in pure water, forming a red perfectly transparent solution from which the dissolved silver is precipitated on the addition of many soluble foreign bodies. Some of the latter—for instance, NH4NO3, alkaline sulphates, nitrates, and citrates—give a precipitate which re-dissolves in pure water, whilst others—for instance, MgSO4, FeSO4, K2Cr2O7, AgNO3, Ba(NO3)2and many others—convert the precipitated silver into a new variety, which, although no longer soluble in water, regains its solubility in a solution of borax and is soluble in ammonia. Both the soluble and insoluble silver are rapidly converted into the ordinary grey-metallic variety by sulphuric acid, although nothing is given off in the reaction; the same change takes place on ignition, but in this case CO2is disengaged; the latter is formed from the organic substances which remain (to the amount of 3 per cent.) in the modified silver (they are not removed by soaking in alcohol or water). If the precipitated silver be slightly washed and laid in a smooth thin layer on paper or glass, it is seen that the soluble variety is red when moist and a fine blue colour when dry, whilst the insoluble variety has a blue reflex. Besides these, under special conditions[18]a golden yellow variety may be obtained, which gives a brilliant golden yellow coating on glass; but it is easily converted into the ordinary grey-metallic state by friction or trituration. There is no doubt[18 bis]that there is the same relation between ordinary silver which is perfectly insoluble in water and the varieties of silver obtained by Carey Lea[18 tri]as there is between quartz and soluble silica or betweenCuS and As2S2in their ordinary insoluble forms and in the state of the colloid solution of their hydrosols (seeChapter I., Note57, and Chapter XVII., Note25 bis). Here, however, an important step in advance has been made in this respect, that we are dealing with the solution of a simple body, and moreover of a metal—i.e.of a particularly characteristic state of matter. And as boron, gold, and certain other simple bodies have already been obtained in a soluble (colloid) form, and as numerous organic compounds (albuminous substances, gum, cellulose, starch, &c.) and inorganic substances are also known in this form, it might be said that the colloid state (of hydrogels and hydrosols) can be acquired, if not by every substance, at all events by substances of most varied chemical character under particular conditions of formation from solutions. And this being the case, we may hope that a further study of soluble colloid compounds, which apparently present various transitions towards emulsions, may throw a new light upon the complex question of solutions, which forms one of the problems of the present epoch of chemical science. Moreover, we may remark that Spring (1890) clearly proved the colloid state of soluble silver by means of dialysis as it did not pass through the membrane.
As regards the capacity of silver for chemical reactions, it is remarkable for its small capacity for combination with oxygen and for its considerable energy of combination with sulphur, iodine, and certain kindred non-metals.Silver does not oxidiseat any temperature, and its oxide, Ag2O, is decomposed by heat. It is also a very important fact that silver is not oxidised by oxygen either in the presence of alkalis, even at exceedingly high temperatures, or in the presence of acids—at least, of dilute acids—which properties render it a very important metal in chemical industry for the fusion of alkalis, and also for many purposes in everyday life; for instance, for making spoons, salt-cellars, &c. Ozone, however, oxidises it. Of all acids nitric acid has the greatest action on silver. The reaction is accompanied by the formation of oxides of nitrogen and silver nitrate, AgNO3, which dissolves in water and does not, therefore, hinder the further action of the acid on the metal. The halogen acids, especially hydriodic acid, act on silver, hydrogen being evolved; but this action soon stops, owing to the halogen compounds of silver being insoluble in water and only very slightly soluble in acids; they therefore preserve the remaining mass of metal from the further action of the acid; in consequence of this the action of the halogen acids is only distinctly seen with finely-divided silver. Sulphuric acid acts on silver in the same manner that it does on copper, only it must be concentrated and at a higher temperature. Sulphurous anhydride, and not hydrogen, is then evolved,but there is no action at the ordinary temperature, even in the presence of air. Among the various salts, sodium chloride (in the presence of moisture, air, and carbonic acid) and potassium cyanide (in the presence of air) act on silver more decidedly than any others, converting it respectively into silver chloride and a double cyanide.
Although silver does not directly combine with oxygen, still three different grades of combination with oxygen may be obtained indirectly from the salts of silver. They are all, however, unstable, and decompose into oxygen and metallic silver when ignited. These three oxides of silver have the following composition:silver suboxide, Ag4O,[19]corresponding with the (little investigated) suboxides of the alkali metals;silver oxide, Ag2O, corresponding with the oxides of the alkali metals and the ordinary salts of silver, AgX; andsilver peroxide, AgO,[19 bis]or, judging from Berthelot's researches, Ag2O3.Silver oxideis obtained as a brown precipitate (which when dried does not contain water) by adding potassium hydroxide to a solution of a silver salt—for example, of silver nitrate. The precipitate formed seems, however,to be an hydroxide, AgHO,i.e.AgNO3+ KHO = KNO3+ AgHO, and the formation of the anhydrous oxide, 2AgHO = Ag2O + H2O, may be compared with the formation of the anhydrous cupric oxide by the action of potassium hydroxide on hot cupric solutions. Silver hydroxide decomposes into water and silver oxide, even at low temperatures; at least, the hydroxide no longer exists at 60°, but forms the anhydrous oxide, Ag2O.[19 tri]Silver oxide is almost insoluble in water; but, nevertheless, it is undoubtedly a rather powerful basic oxide, because it displaces the oxides of many metals from their soluble salts, and saturates such acids as nitric acid, forming with them neutral salts, which do not act on litmus paper.[20]Undoubtedly water dissolves a small quantity of silver oxide, which explains the possibility of its action on solutions of salts—for example, on solutions of cupric salts. Water in which silver oxide is shaken up has a distinctly alkaline reaction. The oxide is distinguished by its great instability when heated, so that it loses all its oxygen when slightly heated. Hydrogen reduces it at about 80°.[20 bis]The feebleness of the affinity of silver for oxygen is shown by the fact that silver oxide decomposes under the action of light, so that it must be kept in opaque vessels. The silversaltsare colourless and decompose when heated, leaving metallic silver if the elements of the acid are volatile.[20 tri]They have a peculiar metallic taste, and are exceedingly poisonous; the majority of them are acted on by light, especially in the presence of organic substances, which are then oxidised. The alkaline carbonates give a white precipitate of silver carbonate, Ag2CO3, which is insoluble in water, but soluble in ammonia and ammonium carbonate. Aqueous ammonia, added to a solution of a normal silver salt, first acts like potassium hydroxide, but the precipitate dissolves in an excess of the reagent, like the precipitate of cuprichydroxide.[21]Silver oxalate and the halogen compounds of silver are insoluble in water; hydrochloric acid and soluble chlorides give, as already repeatedly observed, a white precipitate of silver chloride in solutions of silver salts. Potassium iodide gives a yellowish precipitate of silver iodide. Zinc separates all the silver in a metallic form from solutions of silver salts. Many other metals and reducing agents—for example, organic substances—also reduce silver from the solutions of its salts.
Silver nitrate, AgNO3, is known by the name of lunar caustic (orlapis infernalis); it is obtained by dissolving metallic silver in nitric acid. If the silver be impure, the resultant solution will contain a mixture of the nitrates of copper and silver. If this mixture be evaporated to dryness and the residue carefully fused at an incipient red heat, all the cupric nitrate is decomposed, whilst the greater part of the silver nitrate remains unchanged. On treating the fused mass with water the latter is dissolved, whilst the cupric oxide remains insoluble. If a certain amount of silver oxide be added to the solution containing the nitrates of silver and copper, it displaces all the cupric oxide. In this case it is of course not necessary to take pure silver oxide, but only to pour off some of the solution and to add potassium hydroxide to one portion, and to mix the resultant precipitate of the hydroxides, Cu(OH)2and AgOH, with the remaining portion.[22]By these methods all the copper can be easily removed andpure silver nitrate obtained (its solution is colourless, while the presence of Cu renders it blue), which may be ultimately purified by crystallisation. It crystallises in colourless transparent prismatic plates, which are not acted on by air. They are anhydrous. Its sp. gr. is 4·34; it dissolves in half its weight of water at the ordinary temperature.[22 bis]The pure salt is not acted on by light, but it easily acts in an oxidising manner on the majority of organic substances, which it generally blackens. This is due to the fact that the organic substance is oxidised by the silver nitrate, which is reduced to metallic silver; the latter is thus obtained in a finely-divided state, which causes the black stain. This peculiarity is taken advantage of for marking linen. Silver nitrate is for the same reason used forcauterising woundsand various growths on the body. Here again it acts by virtue of its oxidising capacity in destroying the organic matter, which it oxidises, as is seen from the separation of a coating of black metallic powdery silver from the part cauterised.[22 tri]From the description of the preparation of silver nitrate it will have been seen that this salt, which fuses at 218°, does notdecompose at an incipient red heat; when cast into sticks it is usually employed for cauterising. On further heating, the fused salt undergoes decomposition, first forming silver nitrite and then metallic silver. With ammonia, silver nitrate forms, on evaporation of the solution, colourless crystals containing AgNO3,2HN3(Marignac). In general the salts of silver, like cuprous, cupric, zinc, &c. salts, are able to give several compounds with ammonia; for example, silver nitrate in a dry state absorbs three molecules (Rose). The ammonia is generally easily expelled from these compounds by the action of heat.
Nitrate of silver easily forms double salts like AgNO32NaNO3and AgNO3KNO3. Silver nitrate under the action of water and a halogen gives nitric acid (seeVol. I. p.280, formation of N2O5), a halogen salt of silver, and a silver salt of an oxygen acid of the halogen. Thus, for example, a solution of chlorine in water, when mixed with a solution of silver nitrate, gives silver chloride and chlorate. It is here evident that the reaction of the silver nitrate is identical with the reaction of the caustic alkalis, as the nitric acid is all set free and the silver oxide only reacts in exactly the same way in which aqueous potash acts on free chlorine. Hence the reaction may be expressed in the following manner: 6AgNO3+ 3Cl2+ 3H2O = 5AgCl + AgClO3+ 6NHO3.
Silver nitrate, like the nitrates of the alkalis, does not contain any water of crystallisation. Moreover the other salts of silver almost always separate out without any water of crystallisation. The silver salts are further characterised by the fact that theygive neither basic nor acid salts, owing to which the formation of silver salts generally forms the means of determining the true composition of acids—thus, to any acid HnX there corresponds a salt AgnX—for instance, Ag3PO4(Chapter XIX., Note15).
Silvergives insoluble and exceedingly stablecompounds with the halogens. They are obtained by double decomposition with great facility whenever a silver salt comes in contact with halogen salts. Solutions of nitrate, sulphate, and all other kindred salts of silver give a precipitate of silver chloride or iodide in solutions of chlorides and iodides and of the halogen acids, because the halogen salts of silver are insoluble both in water[23]and in other acids.Silver chloride, AgCl, isthen obtained as a white flocculent precipitate, silver bromide forms a yellowish precipitate, and silver iodide has a very distinct yellow colour. These halogen compounds sometimes occur in nature; they are formed by a dry method—by the action of halogen compounds on silver compounds, especially under the influence of heat. Silver chloride easily fuses at 451° on cooling from a molten state; it forms a somewhat soft horn-like mass which can be cut with a knife and is known ashorn silver. It volatilises at a higher temperature. Its ammoniacal solution, on the evaporation of the ammonia, deposits crystalline chloride of silver, in octahedra. Bromide and iodide of silver also appear in forms of the regular system, so that in this respect the halogen salts of silver resemble the halogen salts of the alkali metals.[24]
Silver chloride may be decomposed, with the separation of silver oxide, by heating it with a solution of an alkali, and if an organic substance be added to the alkali the chloride can easily be reduced o metallic silver, the silver oxide being reduced in the oxidation of the organic substance. Iron, zinc, and many other metals reduce silver chloride in the presence of water. Cuprous and mercurous chlorides and many organic substances are also able to reduce the silver from chloride of silver. This shows the rather easy decomposability of the halogen compounds of silver. Silver iodide is much more stable in this respect than the chloride. The same is also observed with respect to theaction of lightupon moist AgCl. White silver chloride soon acquires a violet colour when exposed to the action of light, and especially under the direct action of the sun's rays. After being acted upon by light it is no longer entirely soluble in ammonia, but leaves metallic silver undissolved, from which it might be assumed that the action of light consisted in the decomposition of the silver chloride into chlorine and metallic silver and in fact the silver chloride becomes in time darker and darker. Silver bromide and iodide are much more slowly acted on by light, and, according to certain observations, when pure they are even quite unacted on; at least they do not change in weight,[24 bis]so that if they are acted on by light, the change they undergo must be one of a change in the structure of their parts and not of decomposition, as it is in silver chloride. The silver chloride under the action of light changes in weight, which indicates the formation of a volatile product, and the deposition of metallic silver on dissolving in ammonia shows the loss of chlorine. The change does actually occur under the action of light, but the decomposition does not go as far as into chlorine and silver, but only to the formation of a subchloride of silver, Ag2Cl, which is of a brown colour and is easily decomposed into metallic silver and silver chloride, Ag2Cl = AgCl + Ag. This change of the chemical composition and structure of the halogen salts of silver under the action of light forms the basis ofphotography, because the halogen compounds of silver, after having been exposed to light, give a precipitate of finely-divided silver, of a black colour, when treated with reducing agents.[25]
The insolubility of the halogen compounds of silver forms the basis of many methods used in practical chemistry. Thus by means of this reaction it is possible to obtain salts of other acids from a halogen salt of a given metal, for instance, RCl2+ 2AgNO3= R(NO3)2+ 2AgCl. The formation of the halogen compounds of silver is very frequently used in the investigation of organic substances; for example, if any product of metalepsis containing iodine or chlorine be heated with a silver salt or silver oxide, the silver combines with the halogen and gives a halogen salt, whilst the elements previously combined with the silver replace the halogen. For instance, ethylene dibromide, C2H4Br2, is transformed into ethylene diacetate, C2H4(C2H3O2)2, and silverbromide by heating it with silver acetate, 2C2H3O2Ag. The insolubility of the halogen compounds of silver is still more frequently taken advantage of in determining the amount of silver and halogen in a given solution. If it is required, for instance, to determine the quantity of chlorine present in the form of a metallic chloride in a given solution, a solution of silver nitrate is added to it so long as it gives a precipitate. Onshaking or stirringthe liquid, the silver chloride easily settles in the form of heavy flakes. It is possible in this way to precipitate the whole of the chlorine from a solution, without adding an excess of silver nitrate, since it can be easily seen whether the addition of a fresh quantity of silver nitrate produces a precipitate in the clear liquid. In this manner it is possible to add to a solution containing chlorine, as much silver as is required for its entire precipitation, and to calculate the amount of chlorine previously in solution from the amount of the solution of silver nitrate consumed, if the quantity of silver nitrate in this solution has been previously determined.[25 bis]The atomic proportions and preliminary experiments with a pure salt—for example, with sodium chloride—will give the amount of chlorine from the quantity of silver nitrate. Details of these methods will be found in works on analytical chemistry.[25 tri]
Accurate experiments, and more especially theresearches of Stasat Brussels, show the proportion in which silver reacts with metallic chlorides. These researches have led to the determination of thecombining weightsof silver, sodium, potassium, chlorine, bromine, iodine, and other elements, and are distinguished for their model exactitude, and we will therefore describe them in some detail. As sodium chloride is the chloride most generally used for the precipitation of silver, since it can most easily be obtained in a pure state, we will here cite the quantitative observations made by Stas for showing the co-relation between the quantities of chloride of sodium and silver which react together. In order to obtain perfectly pure sodiumchloride, he took pure rock salt, containing only a small quantity of magnesium and calcium compounds and a small amount of potassium salts. This salt was dissolved in water, and the saturated solution evaporated by boiling. The sodium chloride separated out during the boiling, and the mother liquor containing the impurities was poured off. Alcohol of 65 p.c. strength and platinic chloride were added to the resultant salt, in order to precipitate all the potassium and a certain part of the sodium salts. The resultant alcoholic solution, containing the sodium and platinum chlorides, was then mixed with a solution of pure ammonium chloride in order to remove the platinic chloride. After this precipitation, the solution was evaporated in a platinum retort, and then separate portions of this purified sodium chloride were collected as they crystallised. The same salt was prepared from sodium sulphate, tartrate, nitrate, and from the platinochloride, in order to have sodium chloride prepared by different methods and from different sources, and in this manner ten samples of sodium chloride thus prepared were purified and investigated in their relation to silver. After being dried, weighed quantities of all ten samples of sodium chloride were dissolved in water and mixed with a solution in nitric acid of a weighed quantity of perfectly pure silver. A slightly greater quantity of silver was taken than would be required for the decomposition of the sodium chloride, and when, after pouring in all the silver solution, the silver chloride had settled, the amount of silver remaining in excess was determined by means of a solution of sodium chloride of known strength. This solution of sodium chloride was added so long as it formed a precipitate. In this manner Stas determined how many parts of sodium chloride correspond to 100 parts by weight of silver. The result of ten determinations was that for the entire precipitation of 100 parts of silver, from 54·2060 to 54·2093 parts of sodium chloride were required. The difference is so inconsiderable that it has no perceptible influence on the subsequent calculations. The mean of ten experiments was that 100 parts of silver react with 54·2078 parts of sodium chloride. In order to learn from this the relation between the chlorine and silver, it was necessary to determine the quantity of chlorine contained in 54·2078 parts of sodium chloride, or, what is the same thing, the quantity of chlorine which combines with 100 parts of silver. For this purpose Stas made a series of observations on the quantity of silver chloride obtained from 100 parts of silver. Four syntheses were made by him for this purpose. The first synthesis consisted in the formation of silver chloride by the action of chlorine on silver at a red heat. This experiment showed that 100 parts of silver give 132·841, 132·843 and132·843 of silver chloride. The second method consisted in dissolving a given quantity of silver in nitric acid and precipitating it by means of gaseous hydrochloric acid passed over the surface of the liquid; the resultant mass was evaporated in the dark to drive off the nitric acid and excess of hydrochloric acid, and the remaining silver chloride was fused first in an atmosphere of hydrochloric acid gas and then in air. In this process the silver chloride was not washed, and therefore there could be no loss from solution. Two experiments made by this method showed that 100 parts of silver give 132·849 and 132·846 parts of silver chloride. A third series of determinations was also made by precipitating a solution of silver nitrate with a certain excess of gaseous hydrochloric acid. The amount of silver chloride obtained was altogether 132·848. Lastly, a fourth determination was made by precipitating dissolved silver with a solution of ammonium chloride, when it was found that a considerable amount of silver (0·3175) had passed into solution in the washing; for 100 parts of silver there was obtained altogether 132·8417 of silver chloride. Thus from the mean of seven determinations it appears that 100 parts of silver give 132·8445 parts of silver chloride—that is, that 32·8445 parts of chlorine are able to combine with 100 parts of silver and with that quantity of sodium which is contained in 54·2078 parts of sodium chloride. These observations show that 32·8445 parts of chlorine combine with 100 parts of silver and with 21·3633 parts of sodium. From these figures expressing the relation between the combining weights of chlorine, silver, and sodium, it would be possible to determine their atomic weights—that is, the combining quantity of these elements with respect to one part by weight of hydrogen or 16 parts of oxygen, if there existed a series of similarly accurate determinations for the reactions between hydrogen or oxygen and one of these elements—chlorine, sodium, or silver. If we determine the quantity of silver chloride which is obtained from silver chlorate, AgClO3, we shall know the relation between the combining weights of silver chloride and oxygen, so that, taking the quantity of oxygen as a constant magnitude, we can learn from this reaction the combining weight of silver chloride, and from the preceding numbers the combining weights of chlorine and silver. For this purpose it was first necessary to obtain pure silver chlorate. This Stas did by acting on silver oxide or carbonate, suspended in water, with gaseous chlorine.[26]
The decomposition of the silver chlorate thus obtained was accomplished by the action of a solution of sulphurous anhydride on it. The salt was first fused by carefully heating it at 243°. The solution of sulphurous anhydride used was one saturated at 0°. Sulphurous anhydride in dilute solutions is oxidised at the expense of silver chlorate, even at low temperatures, with great ease if the liquid be continually shaken, sulphuric acid and silver chloride being formed: AgClO3+ 3SO2+ 3H2O = AgCl + 3H2SO4. After decomposition, the resultant liquid was evaporated, and the residue of silver chloride weighed. Thus the process consisted in taking a known weight of silver chlorate, converting it into silver chloride, and determining the weight of the latter. The analysis conducted in this manner gave the following results, which, like the preceding, designate the weight in a vacuum calculated from the weights obtained in air: In the first experiment it appeared that 138·7890 grams of silver chlorate gave 103·9795 parts of silver chloride, and in the second experimentthat 259·5287 grains of chlorate gave 194·44515 grams of silver chloride, and after fusion 194·4435 grams. The mean result of both experiments, converted into percentages, shows that 100 parts of silver chlorate contain 74·9205 of silver chloride and 25·0795 parts of oxygen. From this it is possible to calculate the combining weight of silver chloride, because in the decomposition of silver chlorate there are obtained three atoms of oxygen and one molecule of silver chloride: AgClO3= AgCl + 3O. Taking the weight of an atom of oxygen to be 16, we find from the mean result that the equivalent weight of silver chloride is equal to 143·395. Thus if O = 16, AgCl = 143·395, and as the preceding experiments show that silver chloride contains 32·8445 parts of chlorine per 100 parts of silver, the weight of the atom of silver[26 bis]must be 107·94 and that of chlorine 35·45. The weight of the atom of sodium is determined from the fact that 21·3633 parts of sodium chloride combine with 32·8445 parts of chlorine; consequently Na = 23·05. This conclusion, arrived at by the analysis of silver chlorate, was verified by means of the analysis of potassium chlorate by decomposing it by heat and determining the weight of the potassium chloride formed, and also by effecting the same decomposition by igniting the chlorate in a stream of hydrochloric acid. The combining weight of potassium chloride was thus determined, and another series of determinations confirmed the relation between chlorine, potassium, and silver, in the same manner as the relation between sodium, chlorine, and silver was determined above. Consequently, the combining weights of sodium, chlorine, and potassium could be deduced by combining these data with the analysis of silver chlorate and the synthesis of silver chloride. The agreement between the results showed that the determinations made by the last method were perfectly correct, and did not depend in any considerable degree on the methods which were employed in the preceding determinations, as the combining weights of chlorine and silver obtained were the same as before. There was naturally a difference, but so small a one that it undoubtedly depended on the errors incidental to every process of weighing and experiment. The atomic weight of silver was also determined by Stas by means of the synthesis of silver sulphide and the analysis of silver sulphate. The combining weight obtained by this method was 107·920. The synthesis of silver iodide and the analysis of silver iodate gave the figure 107·928. Thesynthesis of silver bromide with the analysis of silver bromate gave the figure 107·921. The synthesis of silver chloride and the analysis of silver chlorate gave a mean result of 107·937. Hence there is no doubt that the combining weight of silver is at least as much as 107·9—greater than 107·90 and less than 107·95, and probably equal to the mean = 107·92. Stas determined the combining weights of many other elements in this manner, such as lithium, potassium, sodium, bromine, chlorine, iodine, and also nitrogen, for the determination of the amount of silver nitrate obtained from a given amount of silver gives directly the combining weight of nitrogen. Taking that of oxygen as 16, he obtained the following combining weights for these elements: nitrogen 14·04, silver 107·93, chlorine 35·46, bromine 79·95, iodine 126·85, lithium 7·02, sodium 23·04, potassium 39·15. These figures differ slightly from those which are usually employed in chemical investigations. They must be regarded as the result of the best observations, whilst the figures usually used in practical chemistry are only approximate—are, so to speak, round numbers for the atomic weights which differ so little from the exact figures (for instance, for Ag 108 instead of 107·92, for Na 23 instead of 23·04) that in ordinary determinations and calculations the difference falls within the limits of experimental error inseparable from such determinations.
The exhaustive investigations conducted by Stas on the atomic weights of the above-named elements have great significance in the solution of the problem as to whether the atomic weights of the elements can be expressed in whole numbers if the unit taken be the atomic weight of hydrogen. Prout, at the beginning of this century, stated that this was the case, and held that the atomic weights of the elements are multiples of the atomic weight of hydrogen. The subsequent determinations of Berzelius, Penny, Marchand, Marignac, Dumas, and more especially of Stas, proved this conclusion to be untenable; since a whole series of elements proved to have fractional atomic weights—for example, chlorine, about 35·5. On account of this, Marignac and Dumas stated that the atomic weights of the elements are expressed in relation to hydrogen, either by whole numbers or by numbers with simple fractions of the magnitudes ½ and ¼. But Stas's researches refute this supposition also. Even between the combining weight of hydrogen and oxygen, there is not, so far as is yet known, that simple relation which is required byProut's hypothesis,[27]i.e., taking O = 16, the atomic weight of hydrogen is equal not to 1 but to a greater number somewhere between 1·002 and 1·008 or mean1·005. Such a conclusion arrived at by direct experiment cannot but be regarded as having greater weight than Prout's supposition (hypothesis) that the atomic weights of the elements are in multiple proportion to each other, which would give reason for surmising (but not asserting) a complexity of nature in the elements, and their common origin from a single primary material, and for expecting their mutual conversion into each other. All such ideas and hopes mustnow, thanks more especially to Stas, be placed in a region void of any experimental support whatever, and therefore not subject to the discipline of the positive data of science.
Among the platinum metals ruthenium, rhodium, and palladium, by their atomic weights and properties, approach silver, just as iron and its analogues (cobalt and nickel) approach copper in all respects.Goldstands in exactly the same position in relation to the heavy platinum metals, osmium, iridium, and platinum, as copper and silver do to the two preceding series. The atomic weight of gold is nearly equal to their atomic weights;[28]it is dense like these metals. It also gives various grades of oxidation, which are feeble, both in a basic and an acid sense. Whilst near to osmium, iridium, and platinum, gold at the same time is able, like copper and silver, to form compounds which answer to the type RX—that is, oxides of the composition R2O. Cuprous chloride, CuCl, silver chloride, AgCl, and aurous chloride, AuCl, are substances which are very much alike in their physical and chemical properties.[28 bis]They are insoluble in water, but dissolve in hydrochloric acid and ammonia, in potassium cyanide,sodium thiosulphate, &c. Just as copper forms a link between the iron metals and zinc, and as silver unites the light platinum metals with cadmium, so also gold presents a transition from the heavy platinum metals to mercury. Copper gives saline compounds of the types CuX and CuX2, silver of the type AgX, whilst gold, besides compounds of the type AuX, very easily and most frequently forms those of the type AuCl3. The compounds of this type frequently pass into those of the lower type, just as PtX4passes into PtX2, and the same is observable in the elements which, in their atomic weights, follow gold. Mercury gives HgX2and HgX, thallium gives TlX3and TlX, lead gives PbX4and PbX2. On the other hand, gold in a qualitative respect differs from silver and copper in theextreme easewith which all its compounds arereduced to metalby many means. This is not only accomplished by many reducing agents, but also by the action of heat. Thus its chlorides and oxides lose their chlorine and oxygen when heated, and, if the temperature be sufficiently high, these elements are entirely expelled and metallic gold alone remains. Its compounds, therefore, act as oxidising agents.[29]
In naturegold occurs in the primary and chiefly in quartzose rocks, and especially in quartz veins, as in the Urals (at Berezoffsk), in Australia, and in California. The native gold is extracted from these rocks by subjecting them to a mechanical treatment consisting of crushing and washing.[29 bis]Nature has already accomplished a similardisintegration of the hard rocky matter containing gold.[30]These disintegrated rocks, washed by rain and other water, have formed gold-bearing deposits, which are known asalluvial gold deposits. Gold-bearing soil is sometimes met with on the surface and sometimes underthe upper soil, but more frequently along the banks of dried-up water-courses and running streams. The sand of many rivers contains, however, a very small amount of gold, which it is not profitable to work; for example, that of the Alpine rivers contains 5 parts of gold in 10,000,000 parts of sand. The richest gold deposits are those of Siberia, especially in the southern parts of the Government of Yeniseisk, the South Urals, Mexico, California, South Africa, and Australia, and then the comparatively poorer alluvial deposits of many countries (Hungary, the Alps, and Spain in Europe). The extraction of the gold from alluvial deposits is based on the principle of levigation; the earth is washed, while constantly agitated, by a stream of water, which carries away the lighter portion of the earth, and leaves the coarser particles of the rock and heavier particles of the gold, together with certain substances which accompany it, in the washing apparatus. The extraction of thiswashedgold only necessitates mechanical appliances,[31]and it is not therefore surprising that gold was known to savages and in the most remote period of history. It sometimes occurs in crystals belonging to the regular system, but in the majority of casesin nuggets or grains of greater or less magnitude. It always contains silver (from very small quantities up to 30 p.c., when it is called ‘electrum’) and certain other metals, among which lead and rhodium are sometimes found.