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How can you tell the difference between beryllium oxide and magnesium oxide?
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+ Inorganic chemistry
+ Magnesium
+ Chemistry
+ Oxides
+ Magnesium oxide
Posted by
Melvin Plant
How can you tell the difference between beryllium oxide and magnesium oxide?
There are a couple of ways.
If you have crystalline samples of beryllium oxide (BeO) and magnesium oxide (MgO) then no problem, BeO has a hexagonal crystal structure while MgO has a cubic structure.
If you have a very high temperature apparatus for measuring melting points, BeO melts at 2507 ºC, MgO at 2852 ºC.
You could check the density as BeO density is 3.01 g/mL, MgO comes in at 3.6 g/mL. Measuring the density is fairly easy, just put a weighed sample into a liquid that the salt does not dissolve in (say hexane) and measure the increase in volume (do the experiment in a graduate cylindar).
While not really a good idea, BeO powders cause cancer, MgO is non-toxic. So, dose mice and see if they develop cancer.
If you have crystalline samples of beryllium oxide (BeO) and magnesium oxide (MgO) then no problem, BeO has a hexagonal crystal structure while MgO has a cubic structure.
If you have a very high temperature apparatus for measuring melting points, BeO melts at 2507 ºC, MgO at 2852 ºC.
You could check the density as BeO density is 3.01 g/mL, MgO comes in at 3.6 g/mL. Measuring the density is fairly easy, just put a weighed sample into a liquid that the salt does not dissolve in (say hexane) and measure the increase in volume (do the experiment in a graduate cylindar).
While not really a good idea, BeO powders cause cancer, MgO is non-toxic. So, dose mice and see if they develop cancer.
Off the top of my head: their looks can be misleading (both are off-white powders, perhaps BeO is coarser than MgO), so it would be best to tell them apart by their chemical reactivity.
BeO, unlike MgO, is amphoteric which means it can be dissolved in hot, concentrated NaOH. MgO does not behave like that.
Off the top of my head: their looks can be misleading (both are off-white powders, perhaps BeO is coarser than MgO), so it would be best to tell them apart by their chemical reactivity.
BeO, unlike MgO, is amphoteric which means it can be dissolved in hot, concentrated NaOH. MgO does not behave like that.
There are a couple of ways.
If you have crystalline samples of beryllium oxide (BeO) and magnesium oxide (MgO) then no problem, BeO has a hexagonal crystal structure while MgO has a cubic structure.
If you have a very high temperature apparatus for measuring melting points, BeO melts at 2507 ºC, MgO at 2852 ºC.
You could check the density as BeO density is 3.01 g/mL, MgO comes in at 3.6 g/mL. Measuring the density is fairly easy, just put a weighed sample into a liquid that the salt does not dissolve in (say hexane) and measure the increase in volume (do the experiment in a graduate cylindar).
While not really a good idea, BeO powders cause cancer, MgO is non-toxic. So, dose mice and see if they develop cancer.
Probably other ways, too.
There are a couple of ways.
If you have crystalline samples of beryllium oxide (BeO) and magnesium oxide (MgO) then no problem, BeO has a hexagonal crystal structure while MgO has a cubic structure.
If you have a very high temperature apparatus for measuring melting points, BeO melts at 2507 ºC, MgO at 2852 ºC.
You could check the density as BeO density is 3.01 g/mL, MgO comes in at 3.6 g/mL. Measuring the density is fairly easy, just put a weighed sample into a liquid that the salt does not dissolve in (say hexane) and measure the increase in volume (do the experiment in a graduate cylindar).
While not really a good idea, BeO powders cause cancer, MgO is non-toxic. So, dose mice and see if they develop cancer.
Probably other ways, too.
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Off the top of my head: their looks can be misleading (both are off-white powders, perhaps BeO is coarser than MgO), so it would be best to tell them apart by their chemical reactivity.
BeO, unlike MgO, is amphoteric which means it can be dissolved in hot, concentrated NaOH. MgO does not behave like that.
Off the top of my head: their looks can be misleading (both are off-white powders, perhaps BeO is coarser than MgO), so it would be best to tell them apart by their chemical reactivity.
BeO, unlike MgO, is amphoteric which means it can be dissolved in hot, concentrated NaOH. MgO does not behave like that.
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