arsenous anhydride
A chemist carefully labels a sealed container of arsenous anhydride in the laboratory.
Noun: * Arsenous anhydride: A highly toxic, white, odorless, and tasteless inorganic compound. It is the trioxide form of arsenic (As₂O₃). Historically and contemporarily, it has been used in various industrial applications and as a potent poison.
This term is a specific chemical name used in scientific, industrial, and regulatory contexts. It is not used in everyday conversation. * The laboratory strictly controls access to arsenous anhydride due to its extreme toxicity. * The analysis confirmed the presence of arsenous anhydride in the contaminated soil sample.
- Forensic and Toxicological Context: The compound is infamous for its use in homicides and suicides due to its potency and historical availability.
- The classic symptoms led the toxicologist to suspect poisoning by arsenous anhydride.
- Arsenic trioxide: The more common systematic name for the same compound (As₂O₃).
- White arsenic: A common historical name for the compound, referring to its typical powdered form.
- Arsenic(III) oxide: A precise chemical nomenclature indicating the oxidation state of arsenic.
- Arsenic trioxide
- White arsenic
The term "arsenous anhydride" refers exclusively to the specific chemical compound arsenic trioxide (As₂O₃). It does not have other general or figurative meanings. Its primary associations are with toxicity and industrial use.
A chemist carefully labels a sealed container of arsenous anhydride in the laboratory.
- a white powdered poisonous trioxide of arsenic; used in manufacturing glass and as a pesticide (rat poison) and weed killer