In this experiment, the individual is attempting to extract gold from a batch of gold-plated pins weighing 10 pounds. They have documented each step of the process over several days:
- They started by adding distilled water to the pins and burning them to remove impurities.
- Then, they began dissolving the pins in nitric acid, using several bottles of it over time.
- They periodically poured off the copper waste solution.
- The gold foils began to appear in the solution after a few days.
- They continued to add nitric acid to dissolve the remaining copper.
- They observed the gold foils floating on top of the solution.
- The experiment required a significant amount of nitric acid and patience.
Ultimately, the goal is to extract the gold from the pins, but it's a time-consuming and resource-intensive process.
1. The speaker is demonstrating a process to extract gold from gold-plated pins, which were initially estimated to contain about 10 pounds of gold.
2. The speaker received a box of pins and opened them, discovering that 10 pounds of the material roughly equates to 4500 grams.
3. The speaker started the process by adding a liter of distilled water and some of the scrap pins to a melt dish, intending to burn them.
4. The pins were found to have excellent corrosion resistance, and the speaker noted that they started to discolor slightly when exposed to a flame.
5. The speaker initiated a reaction by adding nitric acid to the pins. The reaction was monitored closely to prevent boiling over.
6. The speaker noted that the reaction took about seven hours to get the first bottle of nitric acid on the gold pins.
7. The speaker then started a second beaker with the same process, noting that a precipitate was forming in the solution.
8. The speaker found that the process required more nitric acid than initially anticipated, with the need to dissolve 10 pounds of copper requiring 10 gallons of nitric acid.
9. The speaker admitted to making mistakes and decided to continue the experiment in the name of science and discovery.
10. The speaker added more pieces of angle iron to ensure all copper was extracted from the solution.
11. The speaker then started the process on a third bottle of nitric acid, noting that the reaction was going well.
12. The speaker continued the process for several days, gradually dissolving the copper and extracting the gold.
13. The speaker noted that the gold foils were beginning to float on the solution, indicating successful extraction.
14. The speaker completed the process and found that the yield of gold was less than anticipated, possibly due to the low concentration of gold in the original material.
15. The speaker concluded the process and demonstrated that the recovered gold was indeed gold by conducting a stannis test.
16. The speaker had extracted a respectable amount of gold from the gold-plated pins, despite the initial low estimate of gold content.