aqua regia

Definition

A mixture of three parts concentrated hydrochloric acid to one part concentrated nitric acid, named for its ability to dissolve gold.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin aqua rēgia (literally “royal water”), so named because it is one of the few solvents capable of dissolving noble metals.

Example Sentences

• "Consider another example. If gold is placed in aqua regia then it dissolves. Aqua regia is a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids that dissolves gold or platinum. Observation of gold dissolving in aqua regia (argument 1 1) lends credence to the above conditional statement. Not placing the gold into aqua regia and gold not dissolving (argument 0 0) does not disprove the truth-value of this conditional."