Hi Stephen,

Yes, that is the issue; will the reagents either pull the atoms 
one-at-a-time off the clump, or will it dissolve the clump.

Hach tech tried digestion with Ag sol, and the results were not reliable; 
without digesting, the process worked accurately and consistently.   But I 
still wonder.

James Osbourne Holmes
a...@trail.com


-----Original Message-----
From:   Stephen Quinto [SMTP:squi...@mindspring.com]
Sent:   Thursday, April 06, 2000 2:06 PM
To:     silver-list@eskimo.com
Subject:        Re: CS Makers>  measurment of Ag colloid mg/L

James,
If you rely upon ionizing the particles so they react with the reagents in
order to get a spectrophotometer reading, then you have to completely
"digest" the sample;  otherwise your  reading is transient, hence
inconclusive.
Stephen

----- Original Message -----
From: James Osbourne, Holmes <a...@trail.com>
To: <silver-list@eskimo.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2000 2:51 PM
Subject: RE: CS Makers> measurment of Ag colloid mg/L


> Re: Measuring the color and absorbency of sols.
> "If the particle size is so small as to not transmit a color, how would a
> colorimeter possibly be used to accurately determine concentration? 
 There
> is a direct contradiction here."
> You react the Ag with substance(s) which create another compound in 
direct
> proportion to the available silver, and then measure with a photodetector
> how much light gets through.  It is usually expressed in "absorbance", or
> how much light did not get through the sample.
> One is the inverse of the other, but there is a math consideration which
> makes absorbance easier to work with.
> The color solution---in my case, a clear magenta/purple---can be 
eyeballed
>  after some experience within a few PPM-mg/l after the color forms as the
> silver is added to the prepared reagents.
> In the pre-electronic age it was done by visually comparing the strength
of
> the color sample of the unknown with a stable prepared set of solutions 
in
> sealed tubes representing various concentrations.
> The instrument is zeroed to 100% transmission using a bleached [sodium
> thiosulfate, same a photo bleach] sample of the reacted silver which is a
> clear medium yellow, and the readout is set to Zero.  Then a test tube or
> cuvette of the colored sample replaces the "blank" and the amount of 
light
> absorbed is read.
> The measurement is made with light of a specific frequency [expressed in
nM
> of wavelength; i.e. color]  so that you are only measuring that light
> absorbed by the reaction product.
> I know that I am calibrated correctly for Silver Nitrate [strongly 
ionized
> monatomic Ag]  because I can take a sample of ACS grade silver nitrate
> which has been diluted precisely with class A volumetric flasks and
> precision pipettes to 4.0 mg/l and the Spec reads 4.0.  That is how I
> created the slope on the graph with Absorbance up the X and concentration
> on the Y axis, by measuring the absorbance of  6 different precise
> dilutions .   This forms a "curve" which is really a straight line [the
> process I am using is basically linear].  I used Excell [any spreadsheet,
> graphing program will probably have the same function available] to do a
> linear regression on the string of points to make a best-fit straight 
line
> for the graph.
> Bob Berger gave me a great tip.  Lacking a program to construct the line,
>  view the dots representing the individual measurements at a very low
> angle, [as in placing your head very near the surface on which the paper
is
> laying.   Your eye will 'see' the line through to dots well enough to do 
a
> satisfactory linear regression by eyeball and brain.  You then draw it 
in.
> At issue is the reactivity of the metal particles with the color-forming
> reagents.
> I do not know the precision available compared with AA spectroscopy, but
it
> is certainly good enough with wet chemistry to determine the Ag sol
> concentration to at least a tenth of a mg/L.   With more sophisticated
> instruments you can move the precision over to the right, but I am not
sure
> how far; I don't need it and could not afford it if  I did.
> The present issue for me is:  Will the reagents I am using react fully
with
> the metallic particles, or, as some say, it must be reduced to ionized,
> i.e. individual "dissolved" atoms of silver. Some say firmly one and
others
> firmly the other.
> Other devices measure the amount of  and wavelength  of light refracted,
> reflected, and absorbed with sensors at various angles to the incident
> beam.  They then use a complex software algorithm to calculate particle
> size.
> Any input based on experience or a reference regarding digestion v no
> digestion  will be welcome.
> James Osbourne Holmes
> a...@trail.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: coyote [SMTP:coy...@alltel.net]
> Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2000 8:14 AM
> To: silver-list@eskimo.com
> Subject: Re: CS Makers
>
> At 04:33 PM 4/5/00 +1200, you wrote:
>
> >>From An earlier post of mine
>
>
>   ##   Thanks Ivan
>
>  I don't plan to start an arguement, I would just like this issue to be
> cleared up or at least expanded upon and open to discussion. The dogma
> just doesn't correlate with my personal observations.
>
>  Therefore, I question the dogma. [Defined as 'established pat
> answers']
>
>  I've heard this theory endlessly repeated and worded as though it came
> from the same source, yet none of my chemist friends can go beyond, "I
> guess it's possible". Of course, they don't mess with CS, but you'd think
> they would have at least heard of this effect in use elsewhere. I have
> yet to find confirmation outside CS circles.
>
>
> 2nd subject
>
>  According to my Dr/PHD chemist friend, there is a newish instrument out
> there that determines particle size using the Tyndal effect [another
> unheard of term , at least, in the pharmeceutical research area]
>
> "<fontfamily><param>Arial</param>I've never heard of the Tyndal effect,
> but I can tell you that our crystallographers use a "Lasex" particle size
> device which is a fiber optic cable that can be put into a suspension to
> determine average particle size, but only after it has been
> calibrated."
>
> </fontfamily>
>
>  Anyhow, please don't take offence. I don't have an ax to grind, just
> some logical holes to fill.   Believers can believe what they want.
>
> >========================
>
> >
>
> >Ah, the question of colour never dies ;-)
>
> >
>
> >I can possibly be of help here, but let me say at the outset,
>
> >that all CS within the accepted colour range (clear, through
>
> >yellow-green, yellow and gold) exhibit very good antimicrobial
>
> >properties.
>
>  ###  I don't doubt that and never said that any color was "bad" or even
> that whatever produces the color is not effective. I simply don't know.
>
>  My rule is, if it looks yukky or weird, I fill a drain with it.  I've
> filled a lot of drains.
>
>
>   Silver nitrate is effective, no?
>
>  If sand were mixed in with CS, the CS would still be effective...and the
> sand harmless.  But, neither sand or nitrates are Bredig sol pure metal
> colloids.
>
>
>
> >
>
> >The colour of a colloid is dependant on the particle size, and
>
> >how that affects the reflection, refraction and extinction of
>
> >visible light. The smaller the particle size the smaller the
>
> >wavelength of light it will absorb leaving its complimentary
>
> >colour to be transmitted.
>
> >
>
> >Particles so small that they absorb UV light (outside the visible
>
> >range) transmit the full visible spectrum and look colourless. As
>
> >the particle size increases (by small amounts) so the wavelength
>
> >of the absorbed light increases, and the transmitted
>
> >complimentary light changes, as noted above.
>
>  ##  This begs another question.
>
>  If the particle size is so small as to not transmit a color, how would a
> colorimeter possibly be used to accurately determine concentration?
> There is a direct contradiction here.
>
>  Also, why does that color stick to the glass after storing for several
> weeks leaving the suspension clear yet still potent?
>
>  Do I have defective glass?  Has anyone else noticed this? Honest, it
> happens without fail, for me at least.
>
> >
>
> >Colour depth, ie the strength of a particular colour, is directly
>
> >proportional to the concentration of the solution (as you
>
> >surmise). This relationship (Beer-Lambert Law) is exploited by
>
> >colorimeters and spectroscopy in determining concentration of
>
> >solutions.
>
> >####I have watched unregulated batches go from clear to light yellow to
> reddish to brown to deep brown to black.  I have run clear batches of CS
> that had various colors of deposits, stirred it up and got yellowish or
> brown as a result. The yellow deposits are not easily seen unless
> illuminated from below. They tend to appear under the pole that collects
> silver fuzz.
>
>   No question in my mind that depth of color indicates concentration of
> "something", but what something?
>
>  A dark color like red or blue in sufficient concentration will appear
> black. A color like yellow can easily be 'swamped out' by a dark color
> but whatever it is could be of a different density more easily suspended
> in a liquid.
>
> ...so, perhaps it is uncharged silver oxide particles that clump together
> into differing sizes that account for the various colors as per the
> theory, whereas the silver particles produced by a constant current
> should all be the same size as well as being mostly seperated by thier
> charge and not tending to clump.
>
>
>
>  I get a distinct feeling of seperate issues being lumped together and
> called the same thing.
>
>     :-)  Ever notice the FDA doing this? To them, Bredig sol silver
> colloid, mild silver protien, various silver salts and compounds
> [including 'gag' silver cyanide] are all the same thing. Similarly, I
> never hear of pure silver in suspensions being mentioned as being a
> seperate issue from silver oxides which are near impossible to 'not'
> produce in low voltage systems.
>
>  One pole produces hydrogen that usually bubbles off. [If it doesn't
> bubble off, it may trap silver ions on the bubble surface and form that
> grey fur.] The other pole produces pure oxygen and it's rare to see the
> oxygen bubble off. Where does it go?  It instantly combines with silver
> ions accounting for the black stuff. [silver oxide] If it's not all on
> the rods or on the glass, where is it? There is only one other place it
> can be...in the water. If colored matter is mixed in water, you get
> colored water. If it has no charge to keep it suspended.....
>
>  Other observation of tarnish on silver tells me that silver oxides can
> take on several colors including all those mentioned above. Granted,
> there may be numerous chemicals floating around in the air to account for
> that color variation. Perhaps no relationship?
>
>   By all indications I find it likely that, if the theory is accurate,
> it's being applied to the wrong particle and make no mistake, there are
> 'at least' two distinct and different molecular structures, quite easily
> observable, present in low voltage CS production. Their location and
> concentration varies.
>
>
>  A note on HVAC.  If the electrodes are open to the atmosphere you'll get
> ozone [which will oxidize silver ions even more violently than pure
> oxygen], nitric acid [if there is moisture and atmospheric nitrogen
> present and since the discharge is into water...moisture is present.],
> hydrogen and oxygen become a  part of the nitric acid.  So, there will
> also be some silver nitrate made.
>
>  If the electrodes are submerged in water, they still produce ozone,
> oxygen and hydrogen but little or no nitric acid. If there is no current
> control, all this stuff emulsifies into a sludge which very quickly turns
> black. [I have a HVAC generator that does just that in less than 4
> minutes]
>
>  I understand that the leading HVAC unit isolates the electrodes from the
> atmosphere and doesn't allow direct contact with water. A Very good idea
> that probably makes very good CS.
>
>
>
>  Again, please don't take it personally, but the theory seems only to
> cover part of the question in a manner that implies a statement like "We
> don't know how to get rid of that yellow or brown color so we're going to
> find a way to say it's the greatest thing on Earth" and the rest goes
> unaddressed almost as though it were swept under the carpet.
>
>  Well, owning a new Caddy with tinted roll up windows and air
> conditioning might be nice, but it doesn't make the traffic go away no
> matter what the dealer tells you.
>
>  [So much for lurking]
>
>  k...@czen/KD'C
>
>
>
>
> >Also, keep in mind that we are talking of solutions which exhibit
>
> >no cloudiness. A cloudy solution contains some very large
>
> >particles and should be filtered.
>
> >
>
> >Regards - Ivan
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >====================
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >Being new to CS making I'm a bit confused about what appears to
>
> >be a contradiction.  Some listers brag about the nice deep golden
>
> >color they get in their batches, yet others are proud of their
>
> >clear, no color product.  Which is right?  Is more color better
>
> >than no color at all?
>
> >It would seem to me that if color is due to light refraction
>
> >caused by silver ppm then the more color the more silver ppm.
>
> >Please enlighten me.
>
> >
>
> >Best regards,
>
> >
>
> >Art
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >----- Original Message -----
>
> >From: "Kathryn Neff" <<n...@ricc.net>
>
> >To: "Colloidal Silver" <<silver-list@eskimo.com>
>
> >Sent: Tuesday, 4 April 2000 07:53
>
> >Subject: CS Makers
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >> Have two questions...
>
> >>
>
> >> 1.  Has anyone used the Silvergen machine...do you like it...does it
>
> >make
>
> >> good quality CS in your opinion...also have you used the tester that
>
> >is
>
> >> offered......you can email me privately if you wish at n...@ricc.net
>
> >>
>
> >> 2.  Am on a meditation list and they are talking about CS....they
>
> >know very
>
> >> little about it...and have been talking about buying some CS from
>
> >someone
>
> >> and the CS is  "pink".....some is very very gold......I recall
>
> >reading on
>
> >> the list about the colors of CS....and what was not good CS and what
>
> >the
>
> >> colors meant....but I cannot find it.....can anyone send me a
>
> >message
>
> >> regarding this...so that I may post it to the meditation list....I
>
> >wish to
>
> >> let them know about what is good CS, but do not want to give a vague
>
> >> statement..... I guess there is a lot of stuff out there for sale
>
> >that is
>
> >> not good.....I make my own with a simply machine...but do not feel
>
> >qualified
>
> >> to give them advice....
>
> >>
>
> >> Thank you,
>
> >> Kathy Neff
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >--
>
> >The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal
> silver.
>
> >
>
> >To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to:
>
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>
> >with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the SUBJECT line.
>
> >
>
> >To post, address your message to: silver-list@eskimo.com
>
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>
> >List maintainer: Mike Devour <<mdev...@id.net>
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>