Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1918-08-17
THE KING
OF CHEMICALS

When the CnenlStS claInOT LOT more
platinum. and the Bureau of Mines
says we are starving for platinum,
and the person who wears a platinum
set jewel is branded as Stacker, the
layman naturally sits up and asks.
What's all the talk about platinum
What is it used for?' And the an
swer is, '-Sulfuric Acid" says Mr.. ].
J. Willaman. prominent member of
the Minnesota section of the Ameri-
can Chemical Society.
Now platinum is many sided met
al. 1t is not corroded in moist air; it
is not oXidiZed by electric sparks.
Hence it is used in contact points in
man. electrical instruments, as Iele-
phones, teiegraphs, radios. signal in
Struments on ship board, etc. 1t is
not affected by most chemicals or by
high temperatures; therefore it is
used in certain parts of big guns, in
Hemical analyses. in electric fur
y -. 1t is very costly, therefore it
3 IN demand for jewelry by persons
: .,ho do not know for what else to
spend their money.
But all of these uses are overshad-
owed at the present time by it's use
i'll the manufacture of sulfuric acid.
Platinum is absolutely essential in
making sulfuric acid; and sulfuric
acid is absolutely essential in max ! g
III
dyes, many foods and medicines; in
fact. hardly a substance can be
named in the manufacture of which
sulfric acid does not have to deal di-
rectly or indirectly. The late Robert
Kennedy Duncan. founder of the sys-
TEN o. felloWships in industrial chem
istry at the University of Pittsburgh
speaks CT it as 'Sulfuric acid. oil of
vitriol, the king of chemical pro-
ducts"
Very recently, :. French authority
in commenting on this chemical said,
IF called upon to decide which Of all
the manufactured products, the in
dustrial creations, has been the most
necessary and useful to the country
would have been rapid and inevita-
BILE. l should answer without hesita-
ticn, sulfuric acid. The factor which
best represents the economic pros
perity of Il nation is its consumption
Of sulfuric acid. True in time of
peace: it is still more so in modern
warfare"
Of Cham 10 lie
do in the process of making eXplo-
sives? The chemist says it is "a de-
hydrating agent That is, it has a
tremendous affinity for water. 1t
VIII abstract water from the air; it
will take water from anything with
which it comes in contact. If water
is not to be had already formed, it
will take from some available source
the elements which go to make up
water and combine them. 1t is this
latter act which is utilized in eXplo-
sives manufacture. Glycerin and nj
trio acid are rather harmless after
they are mixed But if sulfuric acid
is added to the fixture. it will i'm
mediately take an atom Of hydrogen
and one of oxygen from the nitric
acid, and an atom Of hydrogen from
! the glycerin. combine them into wa
ter, and then take the water unto it
self This leaves the nitric acid
chemically united with the glyeerin
and we have nitroglycerin. Similarly
we have nitrocellulose. or guncotton
and t-initrotoluene, the famous T. y
r. Of the present war
Sulfuric acid is made from air, wa
! ter and the fumes from burning sui
/ fur. These are all cheap, common
! materials, but they won't unite with
[ out strenuous provocation, ordinarily
| Platinum furnishes a mild provoca :
| ton, the mere presence Of trace OF
| it causes the oxygen. water and sui
| fur dioxide to join hands chemically
| and the King of Chemicals is born
| At the present time in the United
| States more than a half a million tons
| a month is being made.