Volume 2

The elements of experimental chemistry / by William Henry.

  • Henry, William, 1774-1836.
Date:
1815
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The elements of experimental chemistry / by William Henry. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

    140/586 (page 122)
    Other processes, for obtaining and purifying nickel, are described by Richter in the 12th volume of Nicholson's Journal; by Robiquct in the 69th, and by Tupputi in the 78th volumes of the Annales de Cliimie. The last-men- tioned memoir contains an elaborate investigation of the properties and combinations of nickel. Pure nickel has the followinfr characters: 1. Its colour is white, and intermediate between those of silver and tin. It admits of being finely polished, and has then a lustre between those of steel and platina. When ignited, its colour changes to that of antique bronze, which is increased every time the metal is heated. 2. It is perfectly malleable, and may be forged when hot into bars, and hammered into plates when cold. At 54-|-'* Faht., Tourte found its specific gravity S.402, and, after being thoroughly hammered, 8.932. It is ductile, and may be drawn into very fine wire. It cannot easily be soldered, on account of the oxide, which forms on its surface when heated. Its power of conducting heat is superior to that either of copper or zinc. Its magnetic property is very remarkable, and is retained when it is alloyed with a little arsenic, and, asLampa,dius has shown*, with other metals. In difficult fiisibility by heat, it appears to equal manganese. 3. Nickel appears to be susceptible of two different states of oxidation. By long exposure to a red heat, with free access of air, it is converted into a dark brown oxide, which is still magnetic. In oxygen gas, it burns vividly, and throws out sparks. When precipitated from its solutions by alkahs, and moderately ignited, it becomes of an ash-grey colour with a slight tinge of blue or green, ancj in this state contain?, according to Klaproth, 66 metal, and 34? oxygen. By far- ther ignition, it becomes blackish grey, and then consists, as stated by Richter, of 78 metal and 22 oxygen. Tupputi, from 100 grains of nickel dissolved, in nitric acid, precipi- tated by a fixed alkali, and calcined, obtained 127 grains of * Thoipspn's Anpals, v. (32.