2007-12-20 19:42:22 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
it's a mix between hydrochloric and nitric acid, and is the one of, if not the only acid that can disolve gold.
Interesting story:
there was a German chemist who had won a nobel prize, and they give you a gold medallion with it. When the Nazis came to power, he knew they would confiscate the gold, so he dissolved it in a flask of aqua regia, and just kept it as a solution bottle on his shelf until it was safe. Then he just put in another metal to reduce the gold back to metalic form, and got it re-stamped.
Bah wikipedia has the whole story, and it's accurate there (that's what I get for trying to remember highschool. Check it out).
2007-12-20 19:48:48 · answer #1 · answered by Your Weapons Are Useless Against Us 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acid, both concentrated. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqua_regia
2007-12-21 03:46:46 · answer #2 · answered by gp4rts 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋