A Manual of Elementary Chemistry, Theoretical and Practical (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1872 Excerpt: ...bismuth is quinquivalent are indeed the pentoxide. Bi.,05. together with the corresponding acid and metallic salts. Nevertheless, bismuth is regarded as a pentad, on Journal Ciirin. Sue., xiil. 338. f account of (he analogy of its compound with those of antimony. Several bismuth compounds arc known in which the metal is apparently bivalent, but really trivalent, as: Bi"Cl, Bi"0 Bi, Cl-, or;Bi202, or, &c. Bi"CL, Bi"0 Chlorides.--The trichloride or Bismuthous chloride is formed when bismuth is heated in a current of chlorine gas, and passes over as a white, easily fusible substance, which readily attracts moisture from the air, and is converted into a crystallized hydrate. The same Bubstance is produced when bismuth is dissolved in nitromuriatic acid, and the solution evaporated. BismuthouB chloride dissolves in water containing hydrochloric acid, but is decomposed by pure water, yielding a white precipitate of oxychloride: Bid, + OH2 = BiCIO + 2HC1. The dichloride, BijCl produced by heating the trichloride with metallic bismuth, is a brown, crystalline, easily fusible mass, readily decomposed by water. At a high temperature it is resolved into the trichloride and metallic bismuth. Oxides.--The triozide, or Bitmuthotu oxide, is a straw-yellow powder, obtained by gently igniting the neutral or basic nitrate. It is fusible at a high temperature, and in that state acts towards siliceous matter as a powerful flux. The hydrate, Bi"'HO, or Bi203. OH, is obtained as a white precipitate when a solution of the nitrate is decomposed by au alkali. Both the hydrate and the anhydrous oxide dissolve in the stronger acids, forming the bismuthous salts, which have the composition Bi'llj, where R denotes an acid radical, e. g., Bi"'Cl3, ...