Is zinc powder just crushed zinc?

 

 

Sort of, but remember that metals are hard to "crush" since they are malleable.

Is there an easy way to do it? mabey by breaking it down with hydrochloric acid? but then that wouldnt give the end result i want...

Edited September 16, 201015 yr by The Apprentice

angle grinder

Zinc powder is not just the crushed zinc.

Probably yes. Zinc is metal but less dense than iron.

There is a way to do it with muriatic acid, but it requires a more reactive metal, such as magnesium. This is a single displacement reaction:

ZnCl2 + Mg -> Zn + MgCl

So dissolve the zinc in excess hydrochloric acid (until there is no further reaction with the zinc), and add a block of magnesium. The zinc will be precipitated out as a powder, which can then be washed with water and dried.

There is a way to do it with muriatic acid, but it requires a more reactive metal, such as magnesium. This is a single displacement reaction:

ZnCl2 + Mg -> Zn + MgCl

So dissolve the zinc in excess hydrochloric acid (until there is no further reaction with the zinc), and add a block of magnesium. The zinc will be precipitated out as a powder, which can then be washed with water and dried.

Displacement reactions like that are only marginally effective. What often happens is that the zinc will react with the water to produce hydrogen and zinc hydroxide.

Of course, if there is excess acid present (as you have suggested) then the zinc will react with that, so you will just get a solution of the mixed chlorides and hydrogen.

In any event, you won't get MgCl because Mg doesn't have a stable +II oxidation state.

Displacement reactions like that are only marginally effective. What often happens is that the zinc will react with the water to produce hydrogen and zinc hydroxide.

Of course, if there is excess acid present (as you have suggested) then the zinc will react with that, so you will just get a solution of the mixed chlorides and hydrogen.

In any event, you won't get MgCl because Mg doesn't have a stable +II oxidation state.

 

It... doesn't? It's an alkaline earth metal.

And in that case, I'd like to add something to the procedure. Between dissolving acid and adding magnesium, you should first:

-Boil down the solution (carefully and outside, you don't want HCl inside your home)

-Re-dissolve the zinc in distilled water.

Would that work better?

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Edited October 24, 201114 yr by meercy