[HN Gopher] The Right Chemistry: Reflections on the manufacture ...
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The Right Chemistry: Reflections on the manufacture of mirrors
(2022)
Author : curiousObject
Score : 23 points
Date : 2023-12-07 13:44 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (montrealgazette.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (montrealgazette.com)
| peter_d_sherman wrote:
| >"Von Liebig, already an established professor of chemistry at
| the University of Munich, was consulted by instrument maker Carl
| von Steinheill, who was attempting to improve the mirrors used in
| reflecting telescopes. Liebig went to work and discovered that
| coating glass with a mixture of ammonia, silver nitrate, sugar
| and a small amount of copper resulted in the deposition of a
| blemish-free surface of silver."
|
| Fascinating!
|
| The solution to the "How do you prevent mirrors from requiring
| Mercury?" (historical) problem...
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(page generated 2023-12-08 23:00 UTC)