Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
3,913,945,638 visitors served.
forum Join the Word of the Day Mailing List For webmasters
?
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

Orpiment

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
orpiment [′ȯr·pə·mənt]
(mineralogy)
As2S3A lemon-yellow mineral, crystallizing in the monoclinic system, and generally occurring in foliated or columnar masses; luster is resinous and pearly on the cleavage surface, hardness is 1.5-2 on Mohs scale, and specific gravity is 3.49. Also known as yellow arsenic.

orpiment
An arsenic sulfur compound; used in paints as a yellow pigment.

Orpiment 

arsenic trisulfide, AS2S3. Orpiment contains 60.91 percent arsenic and 39.09 percent sulfur. It has a monoclinic system. The crystals are prismatic; rodlike and columnar aggregates, as well as powdery, nodular, and clustered bodies, are characteristic. Orpiment is easily cut with a knife. Its color ranges from golden- and lemon-yellow to orange-yellow, sometimes brownish. Its luster is oily to diamondlike; on the cleavage planes it is like mother-of-pearl, semimetallic, and tarnishes rapidly. Its hardness on the mineralogical scale is 1.5–2. Its density is 3,490 kg per cu m. It is soluble in aqua regia and bases. It is a nonconductor and diamagnetic. During heating it becomes red. Orpiment is found in low-temperature, hydrothermic deposits in association with realgar, antimony, and other substances, as well as in deposits of hot mineral springs and in volcanic encrustations. It is the raw material from which arsenic compounds are obtained.

A. B. PAVLOVSKII



Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Feedback
Mentioned in?  References in classic literature?   Encyclopedia browser?   Full browser?
No references found
 
Now I remember comrades - Old playmates on new seas - Whenas we traded orpiment Among the savages.
It was circular in form, carpeted with mats of shining straw, ceiled with beams, enriched with fleurs-de-lis of gilded metal with interjoists in color; wainscoated with rich woods sown with rosettes of white metal, and with others painted a fine, bright green, made of orpiment and fine indigo.
 
 
 
Encyclopedia
?

Terms of Use | Privacy policy | Feedback | Advertise with Us | Copyright © 2012 Farlex, Inc.
Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.