Silver Nitrate

silver nitrate (nī`trāt), chemical compound, AgNO₃, a colorless crystalline material that is very soluble in water. The most important compound of silver, it is used in the preparation of silver salts for photography, in chemical analysis, in silver plating, in inks and hair dyes, and to silver mirrors. It is used in medicine in the treatment of eye infections and gonorrhea. Fused silver nitrate is also called lunar caustic. Taken internally silver nitrate is a poison. It is prepared by reaction of nitric acid with silver, and purified by recrystallization. It is darkened by sunlight or contact with organic matter such as the skin.

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silver nitrate

Inorganic compound (AgNO₃), colourless, transparent crystals with a bitter, caustic, metallic taste. The most important silver compound, it is used to prepare other silver salts, to silver mirrors, and as a reagent in analysis. It is very soluble in water; dilute solutions are effective against gonococcal bacteria and may be applied to newborns' eyes to prevent blindness from gonorrhea. Ingesting silver nitrate causes violent abdominal pain and gastroenteritis.

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silver nitrate [′sil·vər ′nī‚trāt]

(inorganic chemistry)

AgNO₃Poisonous, corrosive, colorless crystals; soluble in glycerol, water, and hot alcohol; melts at 212°C; used in external medicine, photography, hair dyeing, silver plating, ink manufacture, and mirror silvering, and as a chemical reagent.

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Silver Nitrate 

AgNO₃, a compound occurring as colorless crystals with two modifications: orthorhombic and rhom-bohedral (stable above 157°C). Silver nitrate has a density of 4.352 g/cm³ (19°C) and a melting point of 209.6°C. Its solubility in water is 69.5 percent by weight (20°C). Silver nitrate forms solid solutions with nitrates of alkali and alkaline-earth metals. When heated to 350°C, silver nitrate decomposes to yield metallic silver; the latter is also formed upon the action of reducing agents (hydrogen, sulfides) on AgNO₃. Silver nitrate is obtained by the action of HNO₃ on silver in the presence of HNO₂ traces.

Silver nitrate is used in the preparation of all other silver compounds. It is also used in the photographic industry, in glassmaking, and in the production of dyes for the textile industry. In organic and analytical chemistry, silver nitrate serves as a catalyst and oxidizing agent. In medicine it is used as an astringent, cauterant, and bactericide. [23–876–]