Part 17

See description of method (pp. 41–43).

NITRATE NITROGEN.

See description of method (pp. 23–25).

SEPARATION OF SILICA, IRON, ALUMINIUM, CALCIUM, AND MAGNESIUM.

SILICA.

Evaporate in platinum 100 to 1,000 cc. of the sample or sufficient if possible to form a residue weighing 0.4 to 0.6 gram, and preferably containing 0.1 to 0.2 gram of calcium. When the residue is nearly dry add 1 cc. of hydrochloric acid (1 to 1) and, after moistening the sides of the dish, evaporate to dryness. Dry at 180° C. and if much organic matter is present char it in a radiator. Moisten the residue with dilute hydrochloric acid and expel the excess of acid by heating on the water bath. Add a few drops of hydrochloric acid, dissolve in hot water, and filter. Wash the residue with hot water. Evaporate the filtrate to dryness, repeat the filtration, and combine the two residues. If great accuracy is not required the second evaporation with hydrochloric acid may be omitted. Ignite and weigh the insoluble residue. Add 2 drops of concentrated sulfuric acid and a little hydrofluoric acid, volatilize the acids, ignite, and weigh again. Report the loss in weight as silica (SiO_{2}). A weight of non-volatile matter exceeding 0.5 mg. should be analyzed.

IRON AND ALUMINIUM.

Heat to boiling the filtrate from the insoluble residue, oxidize with concentrated nitric acid or bromine, and concentrate to about 25 cc. Add ammonium hydroxide in slight excess, boil one minute, and filter. Dissolve the precipitate on the filter in a small amount of hot dilute hydrochloric acid. Reprecipitate with ammonium hydroxide, filter, and wash. Unless very accurate results are necessary this solution and reprecipitation may be omitted. Unite the two filtrates for determination of calcium. Ignite and weigh the precipitate. It will comprise oxides of iron and aluminium and phosphate. If much phosphate is present it should be determined in a separate sample and a correction for the amount applied; otherwise it may be neglected. Determine the iron in the ignited precipitate by fusion with sodium or potassium pyrosulfate, reduction with zinc, and titration with potassium permanganate. Aluminium (Al) is calculated as follows:

Al = 0.53[(Fe{2}O{3} + Al{2}O{3}) − 1.43 Fe]

CALCIUM.

Concentrate the filtrate from the separation of iron and aluminium to about 100 cc., and add an excess of concentrated solution of ammonium oxalate, little by little, to the hot ammoniacal solution. Keep the solution warm and stir at intervals till the precipitate settles readily and leaves a clear supernatant liquid. Filter, dissolve the precipitate in a little hot dilute hydrochloric acid, and reprecipitate with ammonium hydroxide and ammonium oxalate. If great accuracy is not required this solution and reprecipitation may be omitted, and the first precipitate may be washed clean with hot water. Save the filtrate for determination of magnesium. Ignite the precipitate and weigh it as calcium oxide, 71.5 per cent of which is the equivalent of calcium (Ca); or dissolve the precipitate in hot 2 per cent sulfuric acid and titrate with a standard solution of potassium permanganate.

MAGNESIUM.

Acidify with hydrochloric acid the filtrate from the separation of calcium and concentrate it to about 100 cc. Add 20 cc. of a saturated solution of microcosmic salt, cool, and make slightly but distinctly alkaline by adding ammonium hydroxide, drop by drop. Allow the solution to stand four hours, then filter and wash with 3 per cent ammonium hydroxide. Dissolve the precipitate, especially in the presence of large amounts of sodium or potassium, in a slight excess of dilute hydrochloric acid and reprecipitate the magnesium with ammonium hydroxide and a few drops of microcosmic salt solution. If great accuracy is not required this solution and reprecipitation may be omitted. Ignite the precipitate and weigh it as magnesium pyrophosphate (Mg{2}P{2}O{7}), 21.9 per cent of which is the equivalent of magnesium (Mg.). If manganese is present it is precipitated with the magnesium and a correction for it should be applied after having determined manganese in a separate sample. The weight of manganese pyrophosphate (Mn{2}P{2}O{7}) is 2.58 times the weight of manganese.

SEPARATION OF SULFATE, SODIUM, AND POTASSIUM.

SULFATE.

Evaporate to dryness 100 to 1,000 cc. of the sample, or sufficient to obtain a residue weighing 0.4 to 0.6 gram and containing preferably 0.05 to 0.2 gram of sodium. Acidify the residue with hydrochloric acid and remove the silica, iron, and aluminium (pp. 56–57). Make acid and add a hot solution of barium chloride in slight excess to the hot filtrate, and warm it, stirring at intervals for one-half hour, until the precipitate settles readily and leaves a clear supernatant liquid. Dry, ignite, and weigh the precipitate of barium sulfate, 41.1 per cent of which is equal to the content of sulfate (SO_{4}).

SODIUM, POTASSIUM, AND LITHIUM.

Evaporate to dryness the filtrate from the precipitation of barium sulfate. Add a few cubic centimeters of hot water and then a saturated solution of barium hydroxide until a slight film collects on the top of the solution. Filter and wash the precipitate with hot water. Add to the filtrate an excess of ammonium hydroxide and ammonium carbonate solution. Filter, evaporate the filtrate to dryness, dry, and ignite at low red heat to expel ammonium salts. Repeat the operations including the addition of barium hydroxide until no precipitate is obtained by barium hydroxide or by ammonium hydroxide and ammonium carbonate. Evaporate the final filtrate to dryness in a weighed platinum dish, dry, cool, and weigh the residue. Dissolve the residue in a few cubic centimeters of water, filter, wash the filter paper twice with hot water, then ignite the filter paper in the platinum dish. Cool and weigh the residue. Subtract this weight from the first weight including the residue. The difference is the weight of the chlorides of sodium and potassium and lithium. If it is not desired to separate sodium and potassium the weight of sodium and potassium as sodium may be calculated from this difference by multiplying it by 0.394.

POTASSIUM.

First procedure.—Add to the solution of the chlorides of sodium and potassium a few drops of dilute hydrochloric acid (1 to 3) and 1 cc. of 10 per cent platinic chloride (PtCl{4}) for each 30 mg. of the combined chlorides. Evaporate to a thick syrup on the water bath, then remove dish and allow it to come to dryness at laboratory temperature. Treat the residue cold with 80 per cent alcohol and filter. Wash the precipitate with 80 per cent alcohol until the filtrate is no longer colored. Dry the precipitate and dissolve it in hot water. Evaporate the solution to dryness in a platinum dish and weigh it as potassium platinic chloride (K{2}PtCl_{6}). The weight of potassium (K) is 16.1 per cent of this weight and the equivalent of potassium chloride (KCl) is 30.7 per cent of this weight. Subtract the equivalent weight of potassium chloride from the weight of the combined chlorides. The weight of the sodium is 39.4 per cent of the difference.

Second procedure.—Add to the hot solution of the combined chlorides 20 per cent perchloric acid (HClO{4}) slightly in excess of the amount required to combine with the bases. One cubic centimeter of 20 per cent perchloric acid is equivalent to 90 mg. of potassium. Evaporate the solution to dryness, dissolve the residue in 10 cc. of hot water and a small amount of perchloric acid, and again evaporate to dryness. Repeat the addition of water, perchloric acid, and evaporation until white fumes appear on evaporating to dryness. Add to the residue 25 cc. of 96 per cent alcohol containing 0.2 per cent of perchloric acid (1 cc. of 20 per cent perchloric acid in 100 cc. of 98 per cent alcohol). Break up the residue with a stirring rod. Decant the supernatant liquid through a weighed Gooch crucible that has been washed with 0.2 per cent perchloric acid in alcohol. If the precipitate is unusually large dissolve it in hot water and repeat the evaporation with perchloric acid. Wash the precipitate once by decantation with the 0.2 per cent perchloric acid in alcohol, transfer the precipitate to the crucible, and wash it several times with a 0.2 per cent perchloric acid in alcohol. Dry the crucible at 120–130° C. for one hour, cool, and weigh it. The increase in weight is potassium perchlorate (KClO{4}). The equivalent weight of potassium is 28.2 per cent and the equivalent weight of potassium chloride is 53.8 per cent of the potassium perchlorate. Calculate the content of sodium by difference.

LITHIUM.

Use a large quantity of the sample. Obtain the combined chlorides of sodium, potassium, and lithium (see pp. 58–59). Transfer the combined chlorides to a small Erlenmeyer flask (50 or 100 cc. capacity) and evaporate the solution nearly, but not quite, to dryness. Add about 30 cc. of redistilled amyl alcohol. Connect the flask, the stopper of which carries a thermometer, with a condenser and boil until the temperature rises approximately to the boiling point of amyl alcohol (130° C.), showing that all the water has been driven off. Cool slightly and add a drop of hydrochloric acid to convert small amounts of lithium hydroxide to lithium chloride. Connect with the condenser and continue the boiling to drive off again all water and until the temperature reaches the boiling point of amyl alcohol. The content of the flask at this time is usually 15 to 20 cc. Filter through a small paper or a Gooch crucible into a graduated cylinder and note exact quantity of filtrate, which determines the subsequent correction. Wash the precipitate with small quantities of dehydrated amyl alcohol. Evaporate the filtrate and washings in a platinum dish to dryness on the steam bath, dissolve the residue in water, and add a few drops of sulfuric acid. Evaporate on a steam bath and expel the excess of sulfuric acid by gentle heat over a flame. Repeat until carbonaceous matter is completely burned off. Cool and weigh the dish and contents. Dissolve in a small quantity of hot water, filter through a small filter, wash, and return filter to dish, ignite, and weigh. The difference between the original weight of dish and contents and the weight of the dish and small amount of residue equals the weight of impure lithium sulfate. The purity of the lithium sulfate should be tested by adding small amounts of ammonium phosphate and ammonium hydroxide, which will precipitate any magnesium present with the lithium sulfate. Any precipitate appearing after standing over night should be collected on a small filter and weighed as magnesium pyrophosphate, calculated to sulfate, and subtracted from the weight of impure lithium sulfate. From this weight subtract 0.00113 gram for every 10 cc. of amyl alcohol filtrate exclusive of the amyl alcohol used in washing residue because of the slight solubility of solid mixed chlorides in amyl alcohol. Calculate lithium from the corrected weight of lithium sulfate. Dissolve the mixed chlorides from flask and filter with hot water, evaporate to dryness, ignite gently to remove amyl alcohol, filter and thoroughly wash; concentrate the filtrates and washings to 25 to 50 cc.

Footnote E:

The amyl alcohol may be boiled off without the use of a condenser, but the vapors are very disagreeable.

To the weight of potassium chloride add 0.00051 gram for every 10 cc. of amyl alcohol used in the extraction of the lithium chloride, which corrects for the solubility of the potassium chloride in amyl alcohol. Calculate to potassium.

The weight of sodium chloride is found by subtracting the combined weights of lithium chloride and potassium chloride (corrected) from the total weight of the three chlorides. Calculate sodium chloride to sodium.

BROMINE, IODINE, ARSENIC, AND BORIC ACID.