Note 51 — Chapter VI · TTHE COMPOUNDS OF NITROGEN WITH HYDROGEN AND OXYGEN

Silver nitrite, AgNO2, is obtained as a very slightly soluble substance, as a precipitate, on mixing solutions of silver nitrate, AgNO3, and potassium nitrite, KNO2. It is soluble in a large volume of water, and this is taken advantage of to free it from silver oxide, which is also present in the precipitate, owing to the fact that potassium nitrite always contains a certain amount of oxide, which with water gives the hydroxide, forming oxide of silver with silver nitrate. The solution of silver nitrite gives, by double decomposition with metallic chlorides (for instance, barium chloride), insoluble silver chloride and the nitrite of the metal taken (in this case, barium nitrite, Ba(NO2)2).