Hacker News Reader

Comment by jakeogh | Hacker News Reader

Nice HF technical overview: https://ehs.unc.edu/files/2015/09/hydrofluoricacid.pdf (tldr; nope; read it.)

I needed to dissolve(ha!) fluorite once. You can get it started by adding a few drops of conc H2SO4 to your beautiful aqua regia solution. It goes deeper red, some happy bubbles appear, and as long as it stays put, makes it's own "aqua nasty"(pg88) as you gently add your powdered sample.

I thought AQR+SA was called aqua nasty, but I cant get any hits other than this AA pdf with explicit HF added. Maybe an actual chemist can chime in, is there another name for the aqua regia +H2SO4 mix?

https://archive-resources.coleparmer.com/Manual_pdfs/28750-1...

View on HN

If I remember correctly in the book: "1636: The Chronicles of Dr. Gribbleflotz" he made "aqua regia" from "aqua fortis" and "acidum salis" I don't know if either of those were his name for aqua-regia + HydroSulphuric Acid. I know he called ethanol "aqua vitae" by repeatedly distilling wine. He also had "Oil of Vitriol" which he added to saltpeter to make "aqua fortis". He also talked about adding "Oil of Vitriol" to "aqua fortis" but doesn't say what it makes. I think maybe "oil of vitriol" was hydro sulfuric acid, but I am not sure. Perhaps you can find more or someone else can remember. (I used: https://www.ericflint.net/index.php/2016/06/03/1636-the-chro... to quote what I mentioned here.)

Aqua regia is just the name for a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acid which has the ability to dissolve gold. Aqua fortis was simply an archaic name for nitric acid; acidum salis (literally "salt acid") is likewise an old alchemical name for hydrochloric acid, rather straightforwardly named because it was an acid that was synthesized from salt. (If you ever see hydrochloric acid referred to as "muriatic acid", this is just a somewhat more modernized version of the same name: brine-y/salty acid.)

Oil of vitriol is sulfuric acid. This was also quite a logical name at the time - it's an oily liquid that was made from vitriol (a common term for a class of brightly colored metal sulfate crystals).

So, in the reaction given, when the sulfuric acid is added to saltpeter (potassium nitrate), the sulfate ion swaps places with the nitrate ion and you instead get nitric acid and potassium sulfate.

Source: Have spent far, far too much time researching alchemical nomenclature because I thought it was cool.

> Rectal administration has caused acute colitis with perforation.

disturbing that we know this

Not really. Rectal administration of drugs is one of the fastest ways to administer a drug outside of IV.

Unfortunately, I found out about it because of a now-deceased friend who succumbed to alcoholism. Near the end, he would drink rectally, since his esophagus was effectively destroyed. Also, since there's no gag reflex to keep you safe, this way is one of the easiest ways to kill yourself with alcohol.

I love learning new things... but not always.

From your link:

    INHALATION

    Estimates of the lowest lethal concentrations for hydrogen fluoride range from 50-250 ppm for 5-minute exposure and are based on accidental, ***voluntary*** and occupational exposure information.

Someone volunteered to be exposed to this stuff??

Reply on news.ycombinator.com