Talk:Potash
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[edit] as a fertilizer
It would be nice to know more about the benefits potash provides to the soil, and what part of plant biology it improves, etc.Saritamackita 03:38, 29 January 2007 (UTC)
patash is Potassium Carbonate K2CO3, Caustic Potash is potassium hydroxide KOH, Causic is NaOH
- Also, pearlash was created by baking out the carbon impurities in potash, thus it wouldn't be K2CO3...
- ~ender 2005-03-18 02:10:MST
- Okay, so where are your sources on pearlash being K2C03?
- Here's a source that says carbon impurities were burnt off. [1]
- ~ender 2005-03-18 12:15:MST
- Here are some that say it's K2C03: [2], [3], [4], [5], and many others. Baking off the carbon impurities apparently doesn't change the basic chemical composition. Note that pearlash is still somewhat impure, just more pure than potash, still containing small amounts of other potassium salts. Nonenmac 20:29, 18 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- Cool. Btw, did I tell you thanks for adding all the stuff to this and pearlash?
- ~ender 2005-03-19 07:25:MST
- Here are some that say it's K2C03: [2], [3], [4], [5], and many others. Baking off the carbon impurities apparently doesn't change the basic chemical composition. Note that pearlash is still somewhat impure, just more pure than potash, still containing small amounts of other potassium salts. Nonenmac 20:29, 18 Mar 2005 (UTC)
So Rmhermen, why'd you delete out the 'how to make' section, and did you bother to put it anywhere else, besides lost in the history of the potash article?
-- ~ender 2005-03-18 02:00:MST
[edit] Potash's change in meaning around 1950
I loved the discussion and references in this article to the harvesting of hardwoods in the US in the early 1800s to furnish potassium carbonate.
There is a difficulty in writing this article, which is that the definition of potash basically changed around 1950. Before 1950 potash was roughly synonymous with potassium carbonate. After 1950, it basically became a generic term for a variety of potassium-bearing compounds used for fertilizer. I speculate that this change reflected the changed market for alkali: soda ash seems to have largely replaced potash in the glass industry, for example, at some point in the 1800s.
The change in definition is well described in the USGS Minerals Handbook
So I'm thinking the potash article needs to have some clear division, representing this change in the basic definition. Comments?EAS 03:26, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Ingesting potash
If one was to ingest potash on a regular basis, what would the effects be???
- Upset stomach. :) 67.113.98.3 (talk) 22:26, 25 April 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Uses
The article currently has considerable information about the manufacture of potash, but very little about its use. There are several references to its use in making glass and soap, but no details. Could someone please add a section indicating exactly how potash is used to make glass and soap? —Psychonaut 13:30, 21 July 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Potash/Potassium etymology
Re: User:Daniel J. Leivick's edit that required [citation needed], with the Edit Summary: '(I always thought its name came from potasium, does any one have a source on the etymology)'... The Random House Compact Abridged dictionary gives "[1612-25, back formation from pl. pot-ashes, trans. of early D. potaschen. See POT, ASH]" The element potassium was named 1809/10 and took its name from potash. Edit reverted.PBarak (talk) 18:12, 29 December 2007 (UTC)
[edit] History
Is it me or does anyone else think that the history of postash in Canada and the US doesn't quite tell us the whole story?
Is there anyone from the rest of the world with the requisite knowledge that might help? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.111.27.50 (talk) 13:56, 18 March 2008 (UTC)
