Salammoniac,[2] also sal ammoniac or salmiac, is a rare naturally occurring mineral composed of ammonium chloride, NH4Cl. It forms colorless, white, or yellow-brown crystals in the isometric-hexoctahedral class. It has very poor cleavage and is brittle to conchoidal fracture. It is quite soft, with a Mohs hardness of 1.5 to 2, and it has a low specific gravity of 1.5. It is water-soluble. Sal ammoniac is also the archaic name for the chemical compound ammonium chloride.
Sal ammoniac
Sal ammoniac crystals from a mine in Eisden, Maasmechelen, Limburg, Belgium (field of vision: 1.5 cm)
Sal ammoniac crystal from Ravat Village, Tajikistan. One of many unusual sal ammoniac crystal specimens found in the area of Ravat Village, near Yaghnob River, where the crystals have grown in a feather-like or three-dimensional arborescent. Size: miniature, 3.3 x 1.4 x 1.4 cm
Pliny, in Book XXXI of his Natural History, refers to a salt produced in the Roman province of Cyrenaica named hammoniacum, so called because of its proximity to the nearby Temple of Jupiter Amun (Greek Ἄμμων Ammon).[5][6] However, the description Pliny gives of the salt does not conform to the properties of ammonium chloride. According to Herbert Hoover's commentary in his English translation of Georgius Agricola'sDe re metallica, it is likely to have been common sea salt.[7] In any case, that salt ultimately gave ammonia and ammonium compounds their name.
The first attested reference to sal ammoniac as ammonium chloride is in the Pseudo-Geber work De inventione veritatis, where a preparation of sal ammoniac is given in the chapter De Salis armoniaci præparatione, salis armoniaci being a common name in the Middle Ages for sal ammoniac.[8]
In jewellery-making and the refining of precious metals, potassium carbonate is added to gold and silver in a borax-coated crucible to purify iron or steel filings that may have contaminated the scrap. It is then air-cooled and remelted with a one-to-one mixture of powdered charcoal and sal ammoniac to yield a sturdy ingot of the respective metal or alloy in the case of sterling silver (7.5% copper) or karated gold.
Foodedit
Sal ammoniac has also been used in the past in bakery products to give cookies or biscuits their crisp texture,[citation needed] but the application of food grade baking ammonia (ammonium carbonate or (NH4)2CO3) is generally being substituted with the creation of modern baking powder or baking soda (sodium bicarbonate).
In addition, the mineral or, better, its synthetic counterpart, also serves for the production of cooling baths as well as in dyeing and leather tanning.[9]
Sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride) was the electrolyte in Leclanché cells, a forerunner of the dry battery; a carbon rod and a zinc rod or cylinder formed the electrodes.
Medicineedit
It was also brought into pharmacopeias by Islamic physicians for medicinal purposes.[10]
^"Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, Book XXXI, Chapter 39. (7.) - The various kinds of salt; the methods of preparing it, and the remedies derived from it".
^Stapleton, H. E. (1905). "Sal-Ammoniac: A Study in Primitive Chemistry". Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 1 (4): 25--42, i--iii – via Archive.org.
^Hoover, Herbert (1950). Georgius Agricola De Re Metallica - Translated from the first Latin edition of 1556. New York: Dover Publications. p. 560. ISBN978-0486600062.
^"Geberis philosophi perspicacissimi, summa perfectionis magisterii in sua natur ex bibliothecae Vaticanae exemplari". 1542.
^"In Salmiak Territory - Opinion - The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com.
salammoniac, also, ammoniac, salmiac, rare, naturally, occurring, mineral, composed, ammonium, chloride, nh4cl, forms, colorless, white, yellow, brown, crystals, isometric, hexoctahedral, class, very, poor, cleavage, brittle, conchoidal, fracture, quite, soft,. Salammoniac 2 also sal ammoniac or salmiac is a rare naturally occurring mineral composed of ammonium chloride NH4Cl It forms colorless white or yellow brown crystals in the isometric hexoctahedral class It has very poor cleavage and is brittle to conchoidal fracture It is quite soft with a Mohs hardness of 1 5 to 2 and it has a low specific gravity of 1 5 It is water soluble Sal ammoniac is also the archaic name for the chemical compound ammonium chloride Sal ammoniacSal ammoniac crystals from a mine in Eisden Maasmechelen Limburg Belgium field of vision 1 5 cm GeneralCategoryHalide mineralFormula repeating unit NH4ClIMA symbolSam 1 Strunz classification3 AA 25Crystal systemIsometricCrystal classHexoctahedral m3 m H M symbol 4 m 3 2 m Space groupPm3 mUnit cella 3 859 A Z 1IdentificationFormula mass53 49 g molColorColorless white pale gray may be pale yellow to brown if impure Crystal habitCrystals skeletal or dendritic massive encrustationsTwinningOn 111 CleavageImperfect on 111 FractureConchoidalTenacitySectileMohs scale hardness1 2LusterVitreousStreakWhiteDiaphaneityTransparentSpecific gravity1 535Optical propertiesIsotropicRefractive indexn 1 639BirefringenceWeak after deformationUltraviolet fluorescenceNoAbsorption spectraNoSolubilityIn waterReferences 2 3 4 Sal ammoniac crystal from Ravat Village Tajikistan One of many unusual sal ammoniac crystal specimens found in the area of Ravat Village near Yaghnob River where the crystals have grown in a feather like or three dimensional arborescent Size miniature 3 3 x 1 4 x 1 4 cm Contents 1 History 2 Uses 2 1 Metal refining 2 2 Food 2 3 Dyeing 2 4 Medicine 3 References 4 External linksHistory editPliny in Book XXXI of his Natural History refers to a salt produced in the Roman province of Cyrenaica named hammoniacum so called because of its proximity to the nearby Temple of Jupiter Amun Greek Ἄmmwn Ammon 5 6 However the description Pliny gives of the salt does not conform to the properties of ammonium chloride According to Herbert Hoover s commentary in his English translation of Georgius Agricola s De re metallica it is likely to have been common sea salt 7 In any case that salt ultimately gave ammonia and ammonium compounds their name The first attested reference to sal ammoniac as ammonium chloride is in the Pseudo Geber work De inventione veritatis where a preparation of sal ammoniac is given in the chapter De Salis armoniaci praeparatione salis armoniaci being a common name in the Middle Ages for sal ammoniac 8 It typically forms as encrustations formed by sublimation around volcanic vents and is found around volcanic fumaroles guano deposits and burning coal seams Associated minerals include sodium alum native sulfur and other fumarole minerals Notable occurrences include Tajikistan Mount Vesuvius Italy and Paricutin Michoacan Mexico Uses editMain article Ammonium chloride Applications It is commonly used to clean the soldering iron in the soldering of stained glass windows Metal refining edit In jewellery making and the refining of precious metals potassium carbonate is added to gold and silver in a borax coated crucible to purify iron or steel filings that may have contaminated the scrap It is then air cooled and remelted with a one to one mixture of powdered charcoal and sal ammoniac to yield a sturdy ingot of the respective metal or alloy in the case of sterling silver 7 5 copper or karated gold Food edit Sal ammoniac has also been used in the past in bakery products to give cookies or biscuits their crisp texture citation needed but the application of food grade baking ammonia ammonium carbonate or NH4 2CO3 is generally being substituted with the creation of modern baking powder or baking soda sodium bicarbonate Sal ammoniac is used in salmiac liquorice for instance salty liquorice or salmiak pastilles Dyeing edit In addition the mineral or better its synthetic counterpart also serves for the production of cooling baths as well as in dyeing and leather tanning 9 Sal ammoniac ammonium chloride was the electrolyte in Leclanche cells a forerunner of the dry battery a carbon rod and a zinc rod or cylinder formed the electrodes Medicine edit It was also brought into pharmacopeias by Islamic physicians for medicinal purposes 10 References edit Warr L N 2021 IMA CNMNC approved mineral symbols Mineralogical Magazine 85 3 291 320 Bibcode 2021MinM 85 291W doi 10 1180 mgm 2021 43 S2CID 235729616 a b Salammoniac mindat org and the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy Redirect for Sal ammoniac webmineral com Handbook of Mineralogy PDF Pliny the Elder The Natural History Book XXXI Chapter 39 7 The various kinds of salt the methods of preparing it and the remedies derived from it Stapleton H E 1905 Sal Ammoniac A Study in Primitive Chemistry Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 1 4 25 42 i iii via Archive org Hoover Herbert 1950 Georgius Agricola De Re Metallica Translated from the first Latin edition of 1556 New York Dover Publications p 560 ISBN 978 0486600062 Geberis philosophi perspicacissimi summa perfectionis magisterii in sua natur ex bibliothecae Vaticanae exemplari 1542 In Salmiak Territory Opinion The Harvard Crimson www thecrimson com Pormann Peter E Savage Smith Emilie 2007 Medieval Islamic Medicine Washington D C Georgetown University Press p 120 ISBN 978 1 58901 161 8 External links edit nbsp Media related to Salammoniac at Wikimedia Commons Mineral galleries Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Salammoniac amp oldid 1171536332, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
