Amalgam (chemistry) with copper. A nitric acid solution of salts under investigation is applied to a piece of copper foil, and any mercury ions present will leave spots of silvery-coloured amalgam. Silver ions leave similar spots but are easily washed away, making this a means of distinguishing silver from mercury. The redox reaction involved where mercury oxidizes the copper is: Dental amalgam has been studied and is generally considered to be safe for humans, though the validity of some studies and their conclusions have been questioned. Amalgam (chemistry) An amalgam is an alloy of mercury with another metal, which may be a
Sparging (chemistry) The low-boiling components tend to evaporate more rapidly, hence they may be removed from the bulk solution containing higher-boiling components. It is an alternative to distillation, and it does not require heat. This technique is also used in environmental chemistry to extract the volatile organic contaminants from subsoil water and soil. In metallurgy, this process is used to remove dissolved gases from the melt prior to the material being processed. For example, before casting aluminium alloys, argon bubbles are injected into liquid aluminium using a rotary degasser. The resulting argon bubbles will rise to the surface, bringing with them a