Gold parting valens") could be made by the distillation of saltpetre (KNO) with alum (KAl(SO)) or vitriol (FeSO) with water. 2KNO + HO + FeSO → FeO + KSO + 2HNO Nitric acid, after distillation to increase the acid strength, is capable of dissolving the silver but it will not (by itself) dissolve the gold. However, nitric acid is not able to (fully) extract silver and other impurities from an alloy with a high content of gold. Therefore, one part of scrap gold was typically alloyed with three parts of copper (quartering) before parting with nitric acid. Another method uses Sterling silver
Nervonic acid Recent studies show that cord nervonic acid levels were lower in women with preeclampsia delivering male babies as compared to normotensive control group. But this does not happen with girl babies. These results suggest that male babies born to mothers with preeclampsia may be at an increased risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders as compared to female babies. This acid is present in the composition of aged eye lens, but it does not appear in normal eye lens. This data shows that we can use the presence of nervonic acid (together with heneicosylic acid and docosahexaenoic acid) as biomarkers of aging