Barium was discovered by Sir Humphry Davy (England) in 1808. The origin of the name comes from the Greek word barys meaning heavy. It is soft, slightly malleable, silvery-white metal. Attacked by air and water. Soluble compounds toxic by ingestion. Barium is found in barytine (BaSO4) and witherite (BaCO3), never found in pure form due to its reactivity. Must be stored under kerosene to remain pure. Barite, or barium sulfate (BaSO4), when ground is used as a filter for rubber, plastics and resins. It is insoluble in water and so is used in X-rays of the digestive system. Barium nitrate, Ba(NO3)2, burns brilliant green and is used in fireworks.
Cellulose, (C6H10O5)n, is a polysaccharide that consists of a long unbranched chain of glucose units linked by (1→4)-β-glycoside bonds. Nature uses cellulose primarily as a structural material to impart strength and rigidity to plants. Leaves, grasses, and cotton are primarily cellulose. The fibrous nature of extracted cellulose has led to its use in textile industry for the production of cotton, artificial silk, etc. Cellulose also serves as raw material for the manufacture of cellulose acetate, known commercially as acetate rayon, and cellulose nitrate, known as guncotton. Gunncotton is the major ingredient in smokeless powder, the explosive propellant used in artillery shells and in ammunition for firearms.
Decomposition occurs when chemical compounds are broken up into simple molecules, and even as far as their original elements. These processes are normally irreversible. An example of decomposition is when ammonium nitrate is heated. This produces nitrous oxide and water which are unable to recombine.
Devard’s alloy is an alloy which contains copper, aluminium and zinc (50 % Cu, 45 % Al, 5 % Zn) and is used for nitrate and nitrite reduction in order to obtain ammonia in base media.
Mineralization is a process in which organic compounds (e.g. dead plant or animal material) are converted to inorganic compounds (e.g. nitrate, carbon dioxide).
Permanent hardness in water is hardness due to the presence of the chlorides, nitrates and sulphates of calcium and magnesium, which will not be precipitated by boiling. The lime scale can build up on the inside of the pipe restricting the flow of water or causing a blockage. This can happen in industry where hot water is used.
Originally chlorinity (symbol Cl) was defined as the weight of chlorine in grams per kilogram of seawater after the bromides and iodides had been replaced by chlorides. To make the definition independent of atomic weights, chlorinity is now defined as 0.3285233 times the weight of silver equivalent to all the halides.
The Mohr-Knudsen titration method served oceanographers for more than 60 years to determine salinity from chlorinity. This modification of the Mohr method uses special volumetric glassware calibrated directly in chlorinity units. The Mohr method uses potassium chromate (K2CrO4) as an indicator in the titration of chloride ions chloride (plus a small amount of bromide and iodide) with a silver nitrate (AgNO3) standard solution.
The other halides present are similarly precipitated.
A problem in the Mohr titration was that silver nitrate is not well suited for a primary standard. The Danish physicist Martin Knudsen (1871-1949) suggested that a standard seawater (Eau de mer Normale or Copenhagen Normal Water) be created and distributed to oceanographic laboratories throughout the world. This water was then used to standardize the silver nitrate solutions. In this way all chlorinity determinations were referred to one and the same standard which gave great internal consistency.
The relationship between chlorinity Cl and salinity S as set forth in Knudsen's tables is
In 1962, however, a better expression for the relationship between total dissolved salts and chlorinity was found to be
Generalic, Eni. "Nitrat." Croatian-English Chemistry Dictionary & Glossary. 29 June 2022. KTF-Split. {Date of access}. <https://glossary.periodni.com>.
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