A white, gray, or colorless mineral of potassium nitrate, KNO3, used in making gunpowder. Also called saltpeter.
[Middle English nitre, sodium carbonate, natron, from Old French, from Latin nitrum, from Greek nitron, from Egyptian nṯr.]
niter
Dictionary:
ni·ter (nī'tər)  |
n.
A white, gray, or colorless mineral of potassium nitrate, KNO3, used in making gunpowder. Also called saltpeter.
A white, gray, or colorless mineral of potassium nitrate, KNO3, used in making gunpowder. Also called saltpeter.
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| Sci-Tech Encyclopedia: Niter |
A potassium nitrate mineral with chemical composition KNO3. Niter crystallizes in the orthorhombic system, generally in thin crusts and delicate acicular crystals; it occurs in massive, granular, or earthy forms. It is brittle; hardness is 2 on Mohs scale; specific gravity is 2.109. The luster is vitreous, and the color and streak are colorless to white. See also Nitrate minerals.
Niter is commonly found, usually in small amounts, as a surface efflorescence in arid regions and in caves and other sheltered places. Niter occurs associated with soda niter in the desert regions of northern Chile, and in similar occurrences in Italy, Egypt, Russia, the western United States, and elsewhere.
| US Military Dictionary: niter |
Brit. nitre
n. another term for potassium nitrate.
See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.
| Rock & Mineral Guide: niter |
KNO
Orthorhombic -- Rhombic bipyramidal
Environment
Cavern walls, as an efflorescence. Also in dry soils in the floor of bat caves but recovered only by dissolving in water, titrating, and recrystallizing.
Crystal descriptionOccurs as thin crusts and as silky short fibers on rock surfaces, cavern walls, etc. Never in well-formed crystals (but crystals easily produced in the laboratory; hence, data on cleavage, fracture, and tenacity are available).
Physical propertiesWhite. Luster glassy; hardness 2; specific gravity 2.1; cleavage good. Fragile, slightly sectile.
CompositionPotassium nitrate--"saltpeter" (46.5% K 2 O, 53.5% N 2 O 5 ).
TestsLike soda niter, but burns and explodes on hot coals, with violet flame.
Distinguishing characteristicsBehavior on coals distinguishes it from other salts, and the violet flame characterizes it as a potassium mineral.
OccurrenceNiter is found only as an efflorescence that forms on surfaces protected from rain, as in caves and along cliffs, from solutions percolating down through the rocks. Probably of organic origin. Rarer than soda niter but sometimes useful as a fertilizer, for which caves have been mined. Found in the dirt floor of caves in Kentucky and Tennessee, and sometimes in efflorescences along the limestone cliffs.
| Wikipedia: Niter |
"Nitre" redirects here. For other meanings of the word "Nitre" and "Niter", see Nitre (disambiguation).
| Niter | |
|---|---|
| General | |
| Category | Nitrate minerals |
| Chemical formula | KNO3 |
| Strunz classification | 05.NA.10 |
| Dana classification | 18.1.2.1 |
| Crystal symmetry | 2/m 2/m 2/m |
| Identification | |
| Color | white |
| Crystal habit | encrustations |
| Crystal system | orthorhombic |
| Cleavage | very good on {001}; good on {010} |
| Fracture | brittle |
| Mohs scale hardness | 2 |
| Luster | vitreous |
| Streak | white |
| Diaphaneity | transparent |
| Specific gravity | 2.10 (calc.) |
| Refractive index | nα = 1.332 nβ = 1.504 nγ = 1.504 |
| Solubility | soluble |
| References | [1][2][3] |
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", a Latin 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.
Because of its ready solubility in water, niter is most often found in arid environments. A major source is the Atacama desert in Chile.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.[4]
Contents |
Description
Niter is a colourless 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.
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 implied 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 (ἀφρόνιτρον) 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 [5].
In literature, Edgar Allan Poe invokes the use of nitre in the short story "The Cask of Amontillado" (1846), in which the main character, Montresor, describes the mineral deposits lining the walls of the underground catacombs, where he lures Fortunato to his death.
See also
References
- ^ Template:WebMineral-ref.
- ^ Template:MinDat-ref.
- ^ Adiwidjaja, G.; Pohl, D. (2003), "Superstructure of α-phase potassium nitrate", Acta Crystallogr., Sect. C: Cryst. Struct. Commun. 59: 1139–40.
- ^ Atacama Major Expansion Into Nitrate Production
- ^ More conventional soap also appears in the accounts but was more expensive: John Matthews, The Journey of Theophanes, Yale UP 2006
External links
- Etymology of "niter"
- Niter page on mindat.org
- Niter page on webmineral.com
- Mineral galleries
- Poe's The Cask of Amontillado
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Sci-Tech Encyclopedia. McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| US Military Dictionary. The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. Copyright © 2001, 2002 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Rock & Mineral Guide. Peterson Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals, by Frederick H. Pough. Copyright © 1998 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Niter". Read more |
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Mentioned in
- nitriferous
- nitre
- nitriary
- nitrate mineral (mineralogy)
- nitrum
- nitro– (prefix)
- Chile saltpeter (mineralogy)
- dulcified
- natron
- nitrify
- deflagrable
- haloxyline
- portfire
- nitrous
