Hydrazoic acid was originally prepared by the reaction of aqueous hydrazine with nitrous acid. Other oxidizing agents, such as hydrogen peroxide, nitrosyl chloride, trichloramine or nitric acid, can also be used. In its properties hydrazoic acid shows some analogy to the halogen acids, since it forms poorly soluble (in water) lead, silver and mercury(I) salts. The metallic salts all crystallize in the anhydrous form and decompose on heating, leaving a residue of the pure metal. It is a weak acid (p"K" = 4.75.) Its heavy metal salts are explosive and readily interact with the alkyl iodides. Azides of heavier alkali metals (excluding
Base metal is sometimes called 'base metal' or deprecated as 'muckite'. In the context of plated metal products, the base metal underlies the plating metal, as copper underlies silver in Sheffield plate. Base metal A base metal is a common and inexpensive metal, as opposed to a precious metal such as gold or silver. A long-time goal of alchemists was the transmutation of a base (low grade) metal into a precious metal. In numismatics, coins often derived their value from the precious metal content; however, base metals have been also used in coins in the past and today. In contrast to noble