I have made a series of experiments with regard to finding a reliable
method of estimating the acetic acid in commercial acetate of lime,
and find the following gives the best results: The sample is finely
ground and about 6 grms. weighed into a half-liter flask, dissolved in
water, and diluted to the containing mark. 100 c.c. of this solution
are distilled with 70 grms. of strong phosphoric acid nearly to
dryness, and 50 c.c. of water are added to the residue in the retort
and distilled till the distillate gives no precipitate with nitrate of
silver, titrate the distillates with standard caustic soda, evaporate
to dryness in a platinum dish, and ignite the residue before the blow
pipe, which converts the phosphate of soda (formed by a little
phosphoric acid carried over in the distillation) into the insoluble
pyrophosphate and the acetate of soda into NaHO; dissolve in water,
and titrate with standard H_{2}SO_{4}, which gives the amount of soda
combined with the acetic acid in the original sample. In a number of
samples analyzed they were found to vary hardly anything.--_C. H.
Slaytor, in Chem. News._
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