Conversations on Chemistry, V. 1-2 / In Which the Elements of that Science Are Familiarly Explained and Illustrated by Experiments

by Mrs. Marcet

No doubt it is, if that theory be true.

CAROLINE.

The union of an acid and an alkali is then an actual combustion?

MRS. B.

Not precisely, though there is certainly much analogy in these processes.

CAROLINE.

Will this sulphat of soda become solid?

MRS. B.

We have not, I suppose, mixed the acid and the alkali in the exact proportions that are required for the formation of the salt, otherwise the mixture would have been almost immediately changed to a solid mass; but, in order to obtain it in crystals, as you see it in this bottle, it would be necessary first to dilute it with water, and afterwards to evaporate the water, during which operation the salt would gradually crystallise.

CAROLINE.