nitrohydrochloric acid
A chemist carefully handles a beaker of nitrohydrochloric acid under a fume hood.
Noun: A highly corrosive, fuming yellow liquid mixture of concentrated nitric acid and concentrated hydrochloric acid, typically in a 1:3 ratio. It is capable of dissolving noble metals, such as gold and platinum, which do not react with either acid alone.
This term is used primarily in chemistry and metallurgy to refer to a specific, powerful solvent mixture. * Nitrohydrochloric acid is essential for dissolving gold samples in analytical chemistry. * The fume hood must be used when handling nitrohydrochloric acid due to its toxic and corrosive vapors.
- Aqua Regia: This is the common historical and alternative name for nitrohydrochloric acid, meaning "royal water" in Latin, reflecting its ability to dissolve the "royal" metal, gold.
- The alchemists named it aqua regia because it could dissolve gold.
- Aqua Regia: The most common synonym for nitrohydrochloric acid.
- Aqua regia
This term refers exclusively to the specific mixture of acids. It is not a distinct chemical compound but a mixture that generates reactive species, such as chlorine and nitrosyl chloride, which are responsible for its dissolving power.
A chemist carefully handles a beaker of nitrohydrochloric acid under a fume hood.
- a yellow fuming corrosive mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acid that dissolves metals (including gold)