You will need
  • - nitric acid
  • - hydrochloric acid
Instruction
1
Inspect the product consisting of the alloy of copper and silver. It can be jewelry, dishes, coins, body parts. To start, determine whether the product is copper. Copper is not magnetic, but is a great conductor of electricity. At home, for example, you may find the copper wire in the usual wires or electronic components. So:
Take the copper product.
2
Clean the product from oxide and thoroughly wash it with warm alkaline solution. Then rinse with plain water.
3
Define silver.
To do this, buy "bichromate" is a special reagent for silver. Sold in specialized shops for jewelers. If the metal is silver, the reagent will react with orange.
4
To determine the silver and another one way.
Prepare the following mixture: 1 part nitric acid + 1 part of potassium dichromate. Moisten the mixture and determine the location. It should buy red, if the material contains not less than 0.3 of silver.
5
The separation of copper from silver.
Pour the product with nitric acid (10%). It should dissolve completely. You will produce a solution containing copper and silver salts.
6
Now to separate copper from silver just: evaporate the solution; the obtained calcined powder (it is advisable to do this process in a porcelain Cup); cool it; dissolved in normal distilled water (in two parts). Get a solution that contains silver nitrate you will have to remove it from the sediment.
7
Restore salts of metallic silver.
8
To separate copper from silver can and the following method: dissolve silver and copper, the product in nitric acid, add hydrochloric acid.
9
Next, chloride of silver (deposited) wash with water and recover from it silver with zinc and dilute hydrochloric acid.