I. THE DETERMINATION OE TIN IN BABBITT AND 
OTHER ALLOYS.^ 
J. A. Baker. 
Mr. W. H. Low published a method for the ‘^Determination 
of Antimony and Tin in Babbitt, Type Metal or other Alloys,” 
which appeared in the ‘Journal of the America?! Chemical Society j 
vol. xxix, no. I, 1907. When it became necessary to make an 
analysis of a bronze containing copper, lead, tin, and zinc, Mr. 
Low’s method gave promise of a rapid means of estimating the 
tin. It was, therefore, thoroughly tested. 
Mr. Low’s method for tin is as follows : Decompose the alloy 
with nitric acid and expel the latter by boiling with sulphuric acid 
till fumes of the anhydride come off thickly, add tartaric acid and 
potassium sulphate, heat the melt till the carbon is oxidized, cool 
and dilute with water. Transfer to a 500 cc, flask, add about one 
gram of powdered antimony, and hydrochloric acid to the extent 
of one-fifth the volume of the solution. Connect the flask with 
an apparatus capable of furnishing carbon dioxide, and while the 
gas is passing, heat the liquid to the boiling point, and boil for 
about three minutes, then cool while the current of gas is still 
passing. 
This process leaves the tin in a proper state of oxidation to 
titrate with a standard iodine solution. Furthermore, according 
to Mr. Low, no amount of lead will interfere and ^‘theoretically 
no amount of copper should interfere, while small amounts are 
known to give no trouble. ” Attention was attracted to the article 
by this last statement, for evidently the process separates neither 
the copper nor the lead, the former being present in solution and 
the latter for the most part as solid lead sulphate. 
In practice in this laboratory, after bringing the solution up to 
the proper condition for titration according to the above directions, 
a few cubic centimeters of good starch solution were added, and 
^ These studies were undertaken at the suggestion of Prof. A. M. Brumback as a 
partial requirement for the Master’s Degree. 
