butcher said:
also Gold Silver Pro has several great posts on how much copper or base metals will dissolve in nitric. with instructions.
:arrow: http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=534&hilit
I had a little problem following your math but it seems you came to the conclusion that it takes only a quart of 70% HNO3 to dissolve a pound of copper. The rest of the 1/2 gallon is made up with water. I don't understand why you said that I was correct. I guess you assumed that I meant 1/2 gallon of 50/50 nitric. I didn't.
I'm saying that it takes 1/2 gallon (2 quarts) of 70% HNO3 to dissolve 1 pound of copper. This is twice what you calculated and also twice the amount I see posted around the internet. I also add 1/2 gallon of water, making 1 gallon of 50/50 solution, to prevent crystallization of the copper. This is probably more water than needed but, it provides a good safety net.
The equation you gave is:
Cu + 2HNO3 = Cu(NO3)2 + H2
This is not the applicable equation. You didn't consider the NO or NO2 gas that is produced. The actual working equation for concentrated nitric is: (Call this equation #1)
Cu + 4HNO3 = Cu(NO3)2 + 2NO2 + 2H2O
For very dilute nitric, the equation is different: (Call this equation #2)
3Cu + 8HNO3 = 3Cu(NO3)2 + 2NO + 4H2O
Actually, in this last equation, the NO (colorless gas) immediately combines with oxygen from the air to form NO2 (red-brown gas). Here's the overall equation.
3Cu + 8HNO3 + O2 = 3Cu(NO3)2 + 2NO2 + 4H2O
Now for the math - first for equation #1:
One Mole of copper is 63.55 grams. Therefore, in one pound (454 grams) of copper, there are 454/63.55 = 7.14 Moles.
One liter of 70% nitric acid contains about 15.4 Moles. A gallon is 3.785 liters. One half gallon is 1.89 liters. Therefore, 1/2 gallon contains 1.89(15.4) = 29.1 Moles.
In Eq. #1, the Molar ratio of HNO3 to Cu is 4 to 1. Therefore, for 1# of copper, 7.14 Moles, it would take 7.14(4) = 28.6 Moles of nitric acid. Note that this is very close to the 29.1 Moles contained in 1/2 gallon of 70% nitric acid.
In Eq. #2, the ratio is only 8 to 3. This computes to 19 Moles of nitric for a pound of copper. This is about 1/3 gallon of 70% nitric. However, this equation is for very dilute nitric - maybe 1%. In practice, this very dilute nitric is not used because the reaction would be terribly slow. As I read somewhere on the net, the copper nitrate produced also acts as a solvent in very dilute nitric. This is similar to the copper chloride produced in the HCl system. This is probably one reason why the ratio is only 8 to 3 in dilute nitric. Evidently, this solvent effect doesn't apply in strong nitric.
In practice, a 50/50 solution of 70% nitric/water is usually used. This mix is considered the most efficient. It prevents crystallization of copper nitrate, improves a slight bit on the nitric required, and is still strong enough to give good reaction speed. The amount of nitric required is somewhere between Eq. #1 and Eq. #2 - between 1/3 and 1/2 gallon of 70% nitric per pound of copper. The figure is probably at least .45 gallons of 70% nitric per pound of copper, when using 50/50 nitric.
This is all theoretical. When the reaction produces fizzing, there is also some nitric loss into the air.
All in all, in practice, it takes very close to 1/2 gallon of 70% nitric acid (1 gallon of 50/50 nitric) to dissolve 1 pound of copper metal. I have proven this to myself 100's of times. It never fails, although it can be plus or minus a bit. This is the first time I've actually calculated it and I'm not surprised that the math worked out with my experiences. Try it out and see for yourselves.
The ratio figures for copper alloys and nickel will come out about the same as in pure copper above, when dissolving with nitric. For silver, one gallon of 70% nitric (2 gallons of 50/50 nitric) will dissolve about 7 pounds - 100 troy ounces.
The equations for aqua regia, being a two acid system, are much more complex. There are several different ones, all probably happening, to various extents, at the same time. It is almost impossible to predict what is exactly going on. There are too many variables involved: temperature, acids ratio, metals involved, etc. However, for most base metals, including iron, the approximate ratio is the same - about 1/2 gallon of aqua regia per pound of base metals. This is based on my experiences.
GSP