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A sign for nitric acid.
Also known as: Strong water, Nitric acid
'Strong water': nitric acid, which dissolves silver but not gold. That single distinction made it the standard assayer's test for separating the two metals, a practical technique with real economic weight.
Encoded at U+1F727 ALCHEMICAL SYMBOL FOR AQUA FORTIS.
Contexts: Software
Denotes aqua fortis, nitric acid, which dissolves silver and most base metals but leaves gold untouched.
Used in assaying to part gold from silver — the process called parting — which made the distinction between aqua fortis and aqua regia a matter of commercial as well as philosophical interest.
A curved stroke with a straight line crossing it, forming a compact written figure.
Both are acid preparations distinguished in alchemical notation by what they will and will not dissolve.