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Niter
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Niter (US) or nitre (UK) is the mineral form of potassium nitrate, KNO3, also known as saltpeter (US) or saltpetre (UK). Historically, the term "nitre" – cognate with "natrium", an old word for sodium – has been very vaguely defined, and it has been applied to a variety of other minerals and chemical compounds, including sodium nitrate (also "soda nitre" or "cubic nitre"), sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate. This article is about the mineral form of potassium nitrate, which is the usual modern meaning.
r is a colorless to white mineral crystallizing in the orthorhombic crystal system.
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Encyclopedia
Niter (US) or nitre (UK) is the mineral form of potassium nitrate, KNO3, also known as saltpeter (US) or saltpetre (UK). Historically, the term "nitre" – cognate with "natrium", an old word for sodium – has been very vaguely defined, and it has been applied to a variety of other minerals and chemical compounds, including sodium nitrate (also "soda nitre" or "cubic nitre"), sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate. This article is about the mineral form of potassium nitrate, which is the usual modern meaning.
Description
Niter is a colorless to white mineral crystallizing in the orthorhombic crystal system. It usually is found as massive encrustations and effervescent growths on cavern walls and ceilings where solutions containing alkali potassium and nitrate seep into the openings. It occasionally occurs as prismatic acicular crystal groups, and individual crystals commonly show twinning. It is a soft mineral equal to gypsum on the Mohs scale and has a low specific gravity of 2.1. It has refractive indices of na=1.332, nß=1.504, and n?=1.504. It readily dissolves in water.
Occurrence
Because of its ready solubility in water, nitre is is most often found in arid environments. A major source is the Atacama desert in Chile.
History
Niter has been known since ancient times. The name is from Hebrew néter, for salt derived ashes. It may have been used as, or in conjunction with soap, as inferred by Jeremiah
2:22, "For though thou wash me with nitre, and take thee much sope . . ." However, it is not certain which substance (or substances) the Biblical "neter" refers to, with some suggesting sodium carbonate. A term (?f????t???) which translates as "foam of nitre" was a regular purchase in a fourth-century AD series of financial accounts, and since it was expressed as being "for the baths" was probably used as soap .
Potassium and other nitrates are of great importance for use in fertilisers, and, historically, gunpowder. Much of the world's demand is now met by synthetically produced nitrates, though the natural mineral is still mined and is still of significant commercial value: as of 2007, Chilean potassium nitrate was reportedly trading at around USD 1000 per tonne.
In literature, Edgar Allan Poe invokes the supposed Saint of Nitre repeatedly in the short story "The Cask of Amontillado" (1846), in which the main character uses the nitre to his "advantages", as it slowly murders his enemy. Fortunato's health worsens, until Montresor takes his revenge in the form of immurement.
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