Dissolve My Nobel Prize, Fast!

http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/10/03/140815154/dissolve-my-nobel-prize-fast-a-true-story

by alexandros • 15 years ago

9 2 15 years ago

bbrizzi• 15 years ago

    Back in Denmark, de Hevesy did a remarkable thing.
    He reversed the chemistry, precipitated out the gold
    and then, around January, 1950, sent the raw metal 
    back to the Swedish Academy in Stockholm.

He "reversed the chemistry"? Really? That sounds very scientific.

Edit: Further research shows that the first reaction is a simple redox[1], which can (probably) be inverted using a galvanic cell[2].

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqua_regia#Dissolving_gold [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_cell

ephelon• 15 years ago

It was probably as simple as evaporating the liquid and then heating the gold residue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_parting#Acid_parting

Dissolve My Nobel Prize, Fast!

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