electrokinetic
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Hardened Borax in Beaker
A colleague borrowed my 2 L beaker and made a borax solution in it for her students. She doesn't remember the concentration she made, but she does
say it was nothing but water and Muleteam borax from the supermarket. She let it sit and the stuff just hardened in the bottom, there's about 200 ml
of hardened solid white crystal at the bottom. Refilling it with water failed to dissolve it. Pouring 150 ml of 8.6 M NaOH per some website she saw
also has failed to do anything. Does anyone have any suggestions for removing this stuff? Thanks for your time.
 
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Tsjerk
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Try to boil the water, the solubility goes up enormously (1 g/16 ml at room temperature; 1 g/0.6 ml boiling water).
If that doesn't help you could try heating it with an acid, sulfuric acid e.g. to make boric acid which is even more soluble in hot water.
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electrokinetic
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Quote: Originally posted by Tsjerk  | Try to boil the water, the solubility goes up enormously (1 g/16 ml at room temperature; 1 g/0.6 ml boiling water).
If that doesn't help you could try heating it with an acid, sulfuric acid e.g. to make boric acid which is even more soluble in hot water.
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Thanks, I will try that. If it comes to using the sulfuric acid, what concentration should I use?
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Tsjerk
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A couple of percent sulfuric acid should be enough, you only have to dissolve the parts that touch the glass
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