go ACTION OF POTASSIUM Off SALTS AND OXIDES* 



IT. 



On the Action of the Metal of Potash on Metallic Salts and 

 Ojciclcs, and on Alkaline and Earthy Salts. By Messrs. 

 Tiienard and Gay-Lussac*. 



Muriatic acid \_yONVINCED by a number of experiments, that it wag 

 s^arT- 1 " 1 * & not P oss '^ e to obtain muriatic acid free from every other 

 substance, we attempted to make the metal of potash act 

 directly on muriates, in order to ascertain whether this acid 

 would not by these means undergo some alteration. 

 Muria*eofbn- For this purpose we took muriate of barytes fused at a 

 S'the^ciTontf red I,eat - We had powdered it, and introduced it into a 

 potassium, tube of glass blown by the lamp, into which we had previ- 

 ously put a small ball of the metal ; but no action took 

 Koacii n place, either cold or at a red heat ; the metal passed through 

 too- p ac j.j, e ga ||. W jt nou t an y perceptible alteration, and on throwing 



it into water, after the refrigeration of the matter, it in- 

 Other alkaline flamed very vividly. Other alkaline muriates did not afford 

 Muriates of us move satisfactory results. We then subjected to the 

 silverand mer- same trial, in the same way, insoluble metallic muriates, as 

 BDo^b^ . the muriate of silver, and mild muriate of mercury. 

 tassum, Scarcely was the heat greater than sufficed to fuse the me- 



tal, when a very vivid inflammation was excited, and these 

 two salts were reduced. In both reductions the tube was 

 broken ; and in that of the muriate of mercury, there was 

 something like a slight detonation owing to the mercurial 

 fcut the acid vapour. In both cases nothing was formed but muriate of 

 - (rJcT ° ni ~ potash, and no sign of the muriatic acid being decomposed 



was observed. 

 Examination Having no farther hope of finding a mean of decomposing 

 of the action of umr ' lu tie acid in experiments of this kind, we attempted to 

 }>o;.vji.iui ou . • !• i l c i i 



other suits and ascertain the action or the metal ot potash on other salts, 



metallic ms- an( i on the metallic oxides, continuing to employ the same 

 method of operating as before. In all our experiments the 

 heat was constantly a little higher than was necessary to fuse 

 the metal. Sometimes, as far as the decomposition of phos- 



* Journal de Physique, January, 1809, p. 103. 



phate 



