History And Uses of silver Nitrate
- Silver Nitrate was identified by Albert Magnus in the thirteenth century as a result of separating gold and silver by dissolving silver in nitric acid. Silver Nitrate is a colorless crystalline solid that is photosensitive meaning sensitive to light. This substance has served many different purpose in the medical, lab, and photography fields.
- In 1881, a German physician Carl Crede developed a technique of applying a 2 percent solution of silver nitrate to the eyes of newborn babies to prevent a blindness in children.
- The use of silver nitrate in printing and photography dates to discoveries made in the 1720s by the German chemist Johann Schulze. He found that a mixture of silver, nitric acid, and chalk changes to a purple or blackish color when applied by light.
- In 1802, Thomas Wedgwood used silver nitrate to make negative prints on paper making shades of gray.
- In 1835, the British mathematician William Henry Fox Talbot made the first permanent paper negative from paper covered with silver nitrate and table salt.
- In the 1950s, Daguerre’s technique was in wide use, with the addition of glass plates coated with silver nitrate to obtain images produced by exposing the plates to light.
- Silver nitrate helps in the medical field greatly now whether the most common way with new born babies and protecting their eyes or treating severe wounds and burns. Also mainly used to produce photograph films by producing other silver salts when exposed to light.
If exposed in large amounts, silver nitrate can cause inflammation and burning of the skin, eyes, and respiratory system. It is very toxic if ingested. Solutions of silver nitrate can leave stains on the skin dark purple or black, although these stains do not give an severe or permanent damage. It is created by dissolving a weak silver in nitric acid (HNO3). Than the solution is evaporated to take only the crystalline silver nitrate.
The reaction for silver nitrate is indicated below
2Ag + 2HNO3 → 2AgNO3 + H2