calx
Definition
Noun: 1. The powdery residue left after the calcination of a substance, especially a metal or mineral; lime (calcium oxide). This is the primary chemical and historical meaning. * In chemistry, "calx" refers specifically to the solid product remaining when an ore or mineral is heated strongly in air. For example, heating limestone (calcium carbonate) produces quicklime (calcium oxide), which is a calx. * Historically, in alchemy, "calx" was the term used for the residue, often a powdery oxide, left after a metal was burned in air.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- The alchemist carefully weighed the calx of tin produced by the experiment.
- Heating calcium carbonate drives off carbon dioxide, leaving a calx of calcium oxide.
- In early chemistry, the formation of a calx was a key process in understanding combustion and oxidation.
Advanced Usage
- The term is largely archaic in modern general English but remains a precise technical term in the history of science and chemistry to describe pre-modern concepts.
- "To reduce to a calx": An archaic phrase meaning to calcine or oxidize a substance completely by strong heating.
- The ore was reduced to a calx in the furnace.
Variants and Related Words
- Calcination (n): The process of heating a substance to a high temperature to bring about thermal decomposition or to remove volatile components, often resulting in a calx.
- Calcine (v): To heat a substance (like an ore) to a high temperature to cause decomposition or oxidation, producing a calx.
Synonyms
- Lime (specifically quicklime, calcium oxide)
- Oxide residue
- Calcined ash (in specific contexts)
Notes on Different Meanings
- The word "calx" has one core meaning but is used in two primary contexts:
- Modern Chemical Context: A precise term for the solid product of calcination, especially calcium oxide (CaO).
- Historical/Alchemical Context: A general term for the powdery, often metallic, residue left after burning or strongly heating a substance in air.
Noun
-
a white crystalline oxide used in the production of calcium hydroxide
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