Question

What is aqua regia and where do we use it?

Answer 1

The alchemists named this mixture “royal water” because of its ability to dissolve gold. It's a reddish-brown liquid. It's highly corrosive and might cause skin irritation. Gold and platinum are regularly dissolved with the use of Aqua Regia. Aqua Regia is a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid, at a molar ratio of $1:3$ optimally.

Uses of Aqua Regia:

1. It can dissolve noble metals such as gold and platinum but not all metals.
2. Aqua Regia is mainly used for the manufacture of chloroauric acid.
3. It is used as an electrolyte in the Wohl will process to refine gold of the highest purity $(99.999\%)$.