cupel
- noun
- /ˈkjuːpəl/
- Specialized
:
cúpula
- In 1998, Rehren's analysis of the chemical residue on the cupels showed the frequent presence of bismuth, a heavy, brittle, lead-like metal that is frequently found with silver in ore deposits.
- cupel and crucible
Examples
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He translated the first key as a straightforward recipe for using stibnite (the wolf) to separate silver (the queen) from gold (the king) in the crucible, and then using the lead (Saturn) to retrieve silver from the stibnite ashes in the cupel.
Academic text (2004) -
MAX melts on the flagstone hearth; gold overflows the cupel.
Fiction book (1991) -
Finally, the cupels were made with bone ash, which separates noble metals from lead by absorbing the latter, leaving the gold or silver on the surface.
Academic text (2004) -
PHOTO (COLOR): The array of specialized artifacts found at the Oberstockstall castle in Lower Austria included cupels, scorifiers, crucibles, muffles, flasks, still heads, and cucurbits.
Academic text (2004) -
To separate the gold and silver from the lead, the button is placed in a cupel, a small dish made of bone ash used for assaying.
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Finally, the cupel absorbs the lead, allowing only gold or silver to remain on its surface.
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In the laboratory, a cupel is essential for properly separating precious metals from base metals during the assay process.
Synonyms
A small heatproof bowl made of bone ash to separate metals like gold or silver during testing
A small bowl made from bone ash used to separate precious metals during testing
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word cupel comes from the old Latin word cupella, which means 'little cup', and it shares the same root as the everyday cup. A helpful image is a tiny cup that absorbs unwanted metal when heated, which is why a cupel is the small cup used in testing to separate precious metals from base metals.
