What does sal ammoniac mean?

Definitions for sal ammoniac
sal am·mo·ni·ac

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word sal ammoniac.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. ammonium chloride, sal ammoniacnoun

    a white salt used in dry cells

Wiktionary

  1. sal ammoniacnoun

    a rare mineral composed of ammonium chloride found around volcanic fumaroles and guano deposits.

  2. sal ammoniacnoun

    ammonium chloride.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Sal Ammoniac

    is a volatile salt of two kinds, ancient and modern. The ancient sort, described by Pliny and Dioscorides, was a native salt, generated in those large inns or caravanseras, where the crouds of pilgrims, coming from the temple of Jupiter Ammon, used to lodge; who, in those parts, travelling upon camels, and those creatures when in Cyrene, a province of Egypt, where that celebrated temple stood, urining in the stables, or, say some, in the parched sands, out of this urine, which is remarkably strong, arose a kind of salt, denominated sometimes from the temple, Ammoniac, and sometimes from the country, Cyreniac. Since the cessation of these pilgrimages, no more of this salt is produced there; and, from this deficiency, some suspect there never was any such thing: but this suspicion is removed, by the large quantities of a salt, nearly of the same nature, thrown out by mount Ætna. The characters of the ancient sal ammoniac are, that it cools water, turns aqua fortis into aqua regia, and consequently dissolves gold. The modern sal ammoniac is entirely factitious, and made in Egypt; where several long-necked glass bottles, being filled with soot, a little sea salt, and the urine of cattle, and having their mouths luted with a piece of wet cotton, are placed over an oven or furnace, contrived for the purpose, in a thick bed of ashes, nothing but the necks appearing, and kept there two days and a night, with a continual strong fire. The steam swells up the cotton, and forms a paste at the vent-hole, hindering the salts from evaporating; which, being confined, stick to the top of the bottle, and are, upon breaking it, taken out in those large cakes, which they send to England. Only soot exhaled from dung, is the proper ingredient in this preparation; and the dung of camels affords the strongest and best. Our chymists imitate the Egyptian sal ammoniac, by adding one part of common salt to five of urine; with which some mix that quantity of soot, and putting the whole in a vessel, they raise from it, by sublimation, a white, friable, farinaceous substance, which they call sal ammoniac. There are various preparations of this salt used in pharmacy; as, sublimate of sal ammoniac, and flowers of sal ammoniac, used as sudorificks, diureticks, and good aperients; volatile sal ammoniac, used against malignant fevers, as a sudorifick, and in pocket bottles; spirit of sal ammoniac, of various kinds. Ephraim Chambers

ChatGPT

  1. sal ammoniac

    Sal ammoniac is a rare mineral compound that is primarily composed of ammonium chloride (NH4Cl). It often appears as a white crystalline solid, and it has a strong odor. It was historically used for various purposes, including dyeing textiles, tanning leather, and for medical treatments. Today, it is typically used in dry cell batteries, as a flux for soldering, and sometimes in the manufacturing of certain foods. Sal ammoniac can also be created artificially through a chemical reaction between ammonia and hydrochloric acid.

Wikidata

  1. Sal ammoniac

    Sal ammoniac is a rare mineral composed of ammonium chloride, NH4Cl. It forms colorless to white to yellow-brown crystals in the isometric-hexoctahedral class. It has very poor cleavage and a brittle to conchoidal fracture. It is quite soft, with a Mohs hardness of 1.5 to 2, and 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. The Romans called the ammonium chloride deposits they collected from near the Temple of Jupiter Amun in ancient Libya 'sal ammoniacus' because of proximity to the nearby temple. Salts of ammonia have been known from very early times; thus the term Hammoniacus sal appears in the writings of Pliny, although it is not known whether the term is identical with the more modern sal-ammoniac. In any case, this salt ultimately gave ammonia and ammonium compounds their name. It typically forms as encrustations formed by sublimation around volcanic vents. It 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; Mt. Vesuvius, Italy; and Parícutin, Michoacan, Mexico.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of sal ammoniac in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of sal ammoniac in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2


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"sal ammoniac." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/sal+ammoniac>.

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