An Easy Test for Beryllium

Beryllium is a valuable rare metallic chemical element used to form strong, hard alloys with several metals, including copper and silver. This miracle metal, when used as an alloy, makes tools non-sparking, non-magnetic instruments, high-speed bearings and turns stainless steel into a “super-metal”.

The following test illustrates how easy and simple this step-by-step analysis can be: Begin by crushing to powder a piece of ore suspected of containing beryllium to make the Quinalizarin Solution which will be used throughout the test. NOTE; The testing kit which the author uses contains complete supplies for the beryllium test.

Place 60 drops of cold, distilled water into a clean test tube. Take sodium hydroxide, one-half the size of a green pea, and add to the test tube. Mix and shake thoroughly until this prepared quinalizarin solution has a purple color.

Prepare the mineral fusion by placing borax glass in the amount of one-half the size of a green pea onto a piece of chinaware or broken crockery. Make a small depression in the center of this and add a bit of powdered mineral sample, (ore taken from an on site discovery), equal to the size of a large grain of rice.

Next, take a pellet of sodium hydroxide, half the size of a green pea, and place flat side down on the powdered sample. With a blowpipe, fuse this completely in a lamp flame. NOTE; While still hot, remove specimen sample with a knife blade and repeat the fusion over again. Once more while the specimen is still hot, remove it with the knife blade and then crush it to a powder in the porcelain mortar.

The next step is to place this crushed fusion onto a clean evaporating dish and add 20 drops of very cold distilled water using an eye dropper. Stir and mix to help dissolve the mixture.

(Use this as a test solution to follow.)

Take two small dishes to be used for separate tests. In one of the small dishes, place 2 drops of the test solution, (above solution). In the other dish, place 2 drops of clear, cold, distilled water; we will call this a “blank” to be used for comparison.

To each of the dishes add 2 drops of the quinalizarin solution. NOTE; The “blank” will have a purple color to it. The dish containing the test solution will have a light blue color to it. If either beryllium or magnesium is found in the test solution, they will easily be distinguishable by the purple color found in the “blank” dish.

Should the test solution not produce a blue color, then the test is complete and you should proceed on to the next step-by-step of the quick Chemical Analysis Testing. If the test does show the color blue, then proceed with further testing to determine whether the sample of the crushed ore has beryllium or magnesium in it.

Place 8 drops of this test solution into a test tube along with 4 drops of the guinalizarin solution. Mix and shake well. If there is magnesium in the crushed ore sample, the test will turn the solution blue and after five minutes the solution will appear cloudy with tiny blue precipitate; the solution itself will appear as a colorless solution. If beryllium is in the crushed host ore sample, there will be a clear-like blue appearance to the solution. There will be no blue particles or dark blue precipitate show up in the bottom of the test tube as found in the previous test after setting for 45 minutes; the solution will now remain blue.

(Delos Toole Copyright 2000.)