A chemistry question.

OK, in a lab today, we put some nitric acid into a beaker with some silver in it. The thing pops and fizzes like a carbonated beverage and while this was going on, I took it over to the fume hood. I then washed my hands. A few hours later, I glanced at the hand that carried the beaker and it has all these little brown and black flecks (the brown ones look a little like freckles)all over my thumb and first finger (by which I carried the beaker). So my question: What the heck happened??? And no replies like, “YOU’RE GOING TO DIE!!!” or, “YOUR HAND’S GOING TO FALL OFF TOMORROW!!!”


Well, either you’re closing your eyes to a situation you do not wish to acknowledge or you are not aware of the power of the presence of a pool table in your community. Ya’ got trouble my friends! -
Prof. Harold Hill
Gary Conservatory
Gold Medal Class
'05

Ahh, the fun with silver nitrate. I once cleaned that up with a paper towel inadvertantly. The spots will go away once that layer of skin wears off. Give it about three days.

And that’s the truth.

Three days? Heck fire…I had some Silver nitrate spots on my hands for weeks… I almost went to the dermatologist… But, then I remembered ‘playing’ with the stuff one day. I LOVE high school chemistry classes…


“If we submit everything to reason, our religion will have no mysterious or supernatural element. If we offend the principles of reason, our religion will be absurd and ridiculous.” Blaise Pascal

If you really like the idea, silver triflate is even better, brown stains after minutes, last for weeks. I suspect it’s actually silver (I) oxide.

Leprosy is associated with silver.

Armadillos carry leprosy, armadillos live in the American Southwest, some of the world’s best silversmithing comes from the American Southwest.

QED

Ahh, silver nitrate!

Silver nitrate is photoreactive and it’s also absorbed pretty readily by your skin. What happened was that the stuff you got on your hand changed bled into the upper levels of your dermis and then changed colors when it was exposed to the lights in the lab. Dave Swaney is right - it will just go away in time when the stained layer of your skin moves to the top and dies and flakes off.

When I was a sophomore in high school working on an after school science fair project, I dumped a beaker of very pure aqueous ammonia (ammonium hydroxide) into the sink and walked off. My teacher walks in five minutes later and is almost floored by the fumes. It took a few days for the lab to air out! I must say that I learned the hard way that day. :slight_smile:

Its just silver, youll be fine. Enjoy the fake freckles & sue your lab teacher.

I remember reading many years ago about a white woman who was a spy for the Union. She often took on the character of a boy slave, and carried a vial of silver nitrate solution for touch-up. (It wasn’t her main cosmetic, since it would be toxic in that amount.)


John W. Kennedy
“Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.”
– Charles Williams