aqua regia is very reactive reagent because it consist of.......
Answers
Imagine you are working at the Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark in 1940, and the Germans have just invaded. Sitting in your laboratory, there are two gold Nobel Prize medals from Germany.
At this point, Adolf Hitler has declared that exporting gold from Germany is a capital crime, punishable by death! Not only that, but the Bohr Institute has a reputation for harboring Jewish scientists, so you know the Germans will be at your door any minute. What do you do?!
This is a true story - one that happened to the chemist George Charles De Hevesy. Hevesy suggested burying the medals, but Bohr rejected the idea because he was afraid the Nazis would find them when they dug up the yard.
So, Hevesy whipped up a beaker of aqua regia and very slowly dissolved the gold medals. When the Nazis ransacked the lab, they left the beakers filled with red-orange liquid alone and found no gold medals.
Aqua Regia
What is this liquid that is so powerful it can dissolve gold? It's name is aqua regia and it has been known since the Middle Ages. Aqua regia is Latin for 'royal water' because it can dissolve royal metals, such as gold and platinum, which amazed the alchemists at the time.
Aqua regia is made by combining one part concentrated nitric acid (HNO3 ) to three parts concentrated hydrochloric acid (HCl). It must be made fresh because it will decompose quickly, therefore it cannot be ordered.
Uses and Hazards
Besides hiding gold from Nazis, what is aqua regia used for?
Gold Refinery
It can be used to refine gold. When gold is dissolved in aqua regia, it forms chloroauric acid (HAuCl4). The chemical reaction shows gold reacting with both components of aqua regia: nitric acid (HNO3) and hydrochloric acid (HCl).
Au + HNO3 + 4 HCl ----> HAuCl4 + NO + 2 H2 O
Chloroauric acid is used in the process of electrolysis (using electricity to drive an oxidation reduction reaction) to purify gold.
Aqua regia is very reactive and corrosive because it consists of 3 moles of HCl (Hydrochloric acid) and one mole of HNO₃ (Nitric acid)
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