A man went door to door posing as a goldsmith. He promised to bring back the glitter of old and dull gold ornaments. An unsuspecting lady gave a set of gold bangles to him which he dipped in a particular solution. The bangles sparkled like new but their weight was reduced drastically. The lady was upset but after a futile argument the man beat a hasty retreat. Can you play the detective to find out the nature of the solution he had used?

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Solution

The goldsmith had used a solution of aqua regia, which is a mixture of conc. nitric acid and conc. hydrochloric acid in 1:3 ratio.

Aqua regia has the ability to dissolve metals with low reactivity, like platinum and gold.

The outer layer of gold dissolves as soon as it is dipped in aqua regia thus exposing the inner shiny layer of gold present beneath.

As a result, the piece of jewellery loses weight and also gets a sparkling appearance.

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Q. A man went door to door posing as a goldsmith. He promised to bring back the glitter of old and dull gold ornaments. An unsuspecting lady gave a set of gold bangles to him which he dipped in a particular solution. The bangles sparkled like new but their weight was reduced drastically. The lady was upset but after a futile argument, the man beat a hasty retreat. Can you play the detective to find out the nature of the solution he had used?

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One day Reeta went to a jeweller’s shop with her mother. Her mother gave old gold jewellery to the goldsmith to polish. Next day when they brought the jewellery back, they found that there was a slight loss in its weight. Can you suggest a reason for the loss in weight?

Question 15
A man went door to door posing as a goldsmith. He promised to bring back the glitter of old and dull gold ornaments. An unsuspecting lady gave a set of gold bangles to him, which he dipped in a particular solution.

The bangles sparkled like new but their weight was reduced drastically. The lady was upset but after a futile argument the man beat a hasty retreat. Can you play the detective to find out the nature of the solution he had used?

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