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Old 12-06-2010 | 07:20 AM
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Patxipt
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From: Amadora, PORTUGAL
Default RE: Brass Etching ??

Battery acid is sulphuric acid, H2SO4.
HCl is basically turning the copper in the brass to a salt, copper chloride (CuCL), while the hydrogen peroxide acts almost like a catalyst.

So we have Cu (copper) reacting with HCl (hydrochloric acid) and hydrogen peroxyde (H2O2). This gives us molecular hydrogen (H + H -> H2), water (H2O) and copper chloride (CuCl).

It's been a while since college chemistry, but that should be it.

The chloride in the ferric chloride solution (a dissolved salt) is dissociated in Fe+ and Cl-, again, another donor of chloride, but not so reagent as HCl and with that nasty iron wanting to stick to everything, like clothes.