| Description |
Metalloid element with various allotropes, of which metal is bright, silvery, hard, and brittle. Stable in dry air and not attacked by dilute acids of alkalis. Used to harden other metals, in storage batteries, bearings, etc. Diagnostic tests:
Antimony is usually detected by the coating of oxide formed by roasting on
charcoal or the opentube.
Antimonides, antimony, etc. (As2-):
A sample of the powdered mineral gives off a dense sublimate of Sb2O3
when
roasted on charcoal without the arsenic odor. In the open tube test, they give a white, volatile, crystalline
sublimate of Sb2O3 at a much higher temperature than
arsenic. In the closed tube test with
sulfur, they yield a black sublimate when hot and red or
reddish brown when cold.
Antimonates (SbO4): can be detected by lack of a garlic odor
(arsenic) and the white sublimate yielded
when a mixture of the powdered mineral with charcoal dust and Na2CO3
is heated with a reducing flame on a charcoal block.
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