Procedure.—Ignite the residue in the platinum dish at a low red heat. If great accuracy is desired this should be done in an electric muffle furnace or in a radiator, which consists of a platinum or a nickel dish large enough to allow an air space of about half an inch between it and the dish within it, the inner dish being supported by a triangle of platinum wire laid on the bottom of the outer dish. A disc of platinum or nickel foil large enough to cover the outer dish is suspended over the inner dish to radiate the heat into it. The larger dish is heated to bright redness until the residue is white or nearly so. Allow the dish to cool, and moisten the residue with a few drops of distilled water. Dry the residue in the oven, cool in a desiccator, and weigh. The fixed residue on evaporation is the difference between this weight and the weight of the dish.
The loss on ignition is the difference between the total residue on evaporation and the fixed residue on evaporation.
If the odor and color on ignition of some residues give helpful clues to the character of the organic matter record them.
SUSPENDED MATTER.[[56]][[110]]
DETERMINATION WITH GOOCH CRUCIBLE.
Reagent.—Prepare a dilute cream of asbestos fibre which has been finely shredded, thoroughly ignited, treated with strong hydrochloric acid for at least 12 hours, and washed with distilled water till free from acid.
Procedure.—1. Prepare a mat of the asbestos fibre 1/16 inch thick in a Gooch crucible. Dry it in an oven at 103 or 180° C., cool and weigh. Filter 1,000 cc. of samples having a turbidity of 50 parts per million or less. If the turbidity is higher use sufficient water to obtain 50 to 100 mg. of suspended matter. Dry for one hour at 103 or 180° C., cool and weigh. Report the temperature at which the residue was dried. If 1,000 cc. is filtered the increase in weight expressed in milligrams is equal to parts per million of suspended matter.
DETERMINATION BY FILTRATION.
The difference between the total solids in filtered and unfiltered portions of a sample may be used as a basis for calculating suspended matter.