Visually opalescence is defined as the glow of microscopic inclusions, forming a cloudy suspension. Since we are not talking about radiation, but about the reflection of light by microparticles, there is a belief in the philistine environment: for the appearance of opalescence, it is required that every single particle of the suspension is a miniature flat “mirror”.

The subtlety of the effect opalescence consists partly in the size, partly in the form, partly in the light transmission of the "mirrors" that form the suspension. If the linear size of the reflecting surface is so small that it is comparable to the wavelength of light, we will observe the reflection from such a particle as a poorly distinguishable point surrounded by an iridescent glow.

A similar effect is also observed when the "mirror" is an uneven surface with relief defect sizes close to the light wavelength. Only then does the light passing through the suspension split into colored flashes at millions of refraction points and merge into a milky white glow - which gives opalescence.

The background environment also plays an important role in the opalescence of precious stones. The refraction of light at the boundaries of media is especially decorative in quartz, corundum, and other transparent minerals. Solid transparent media are ideal for fixing fine-fibrous molecular structures, each of which forms a regular polyhedron.

The most beautiful opalescence is observed precisely when the role of "mirrors" and "light filters" that form an opaque suspension in the stone is played by silica polyhedrons.

A classic example of aesthetic opalescence can serve... The stone, mined near the Pacific coast of the United States, is saturated with chemically bound water. Many molecules of silicon dioxide, which form the basis of the stone, are attached to several molecules of water. Optically dense molecular groups in an array of silica change the light transmission properties of the stone, giving rise to the phenomenon of opalescence.

exhibits slightly less opalescence than butte opal. The difference arises from the fact that part of the water contained in silica goes to the oxidation of impurity iron.

Noticeable pronounced opalescence and at the shard Australian opal. However, the distribution of opalescent layers is uneven, and zones of high light transmission create the illusion of a local glow of the gem. Australian opal's natural color palette, aged in nature's blue tones, highlights reflected light. makes an ordinary shard of silica a precious stone.

Foggy haze of classic opalescence makes the iridescent glow of the round cabochon enigmatic and mysterious. In the absence of a haze of scattered light, this stone would hardly have produced such a stunning impression.

The nature of the opalescence of rose quartz and violet-pink amethyst is identical to the mechanism of light scattering by opals. No wonder: mineralogically, opals and quartz are siblings.

Some varieties of agate, due to the beautiful opalescence, are similar to quartz and opals. This is what numerous counterfeiters of opals use ...

Moonshine, which we are used to seeing on the screens, does not mean ideal at all. In "Moonshine" it is cloudy, but the correct drink has no color. The question arises: why did the moonshine become cloudy (opalescent) at the exit?

Generally speaking, there was a violation of the technology for preparing the drink. Let's take a closer look at each of the possible causes of cloudy moonshine. There will be 5 in total!

1. Spray blower

In this case, you could make one of two common mistakes - you poured too much mash or the mash began to foam a lot (as a result of excessive heating, which led to the mash boiling and subsequently entering the cooler / refrigerator / coil).

But here the spray has occurred, what to do?

• Finish distillation;
• Disassemble the moonshine;
• Clean the machine.

Only then can you continue to make moonshine on your equipment, and the muddy moonshine that has turned out before can be re-distilled.

How not to repeat the spray:

• Fill the cube with mash not completely, but only ¾ (70-75%);
• Watch the heating temperature, the manufacturer installs a thermometer on most cubes;
• Wash the moonshine after each distillation, do it carefully;
• Clean the mash with bentonite (before the first distillation!).

2. The presence of fusel oils

Fusel oils are various impurities that form during the fermentation process.

Here you do not need special tools to get rid of them. However, this does not mean at all that cleaning moonshine has become easier. After all, you are waiting for a double distillation with separation into fractions (it is also called fractional)! This way you can minimize the appearance of turbidity.

Prompt:

The head fraction, as a rule, is considered the first 10-12% of absolute alcohol. It, like the tail, contains fusel oils.

In turn, the tail fraction begins to go when the temperature in the cube reaches 95°C.

Output:

Select a body up to 92°C cubed, so you will definitely get a 100% quality product.

3. Hard water

We have written more than once that it is necessary to take a responsible approach to the choice of water for diluting moonshine! Since water can contain in its composition a huge amount of salts and impurities, which, after dilution, precipitate.

Remember, in the water used in home brewing, the salt content should be minimal and not exceed 1 mg-eq / l.

Breeding moonshine with tap and distilled water is not allowed!

Water with high hardness should be allowed to settle for 1-2 days.

The cause of turbidity may also be hidden in the wrong dilution procedure:

• It is necessary to pour distillate into water, and not vice versa
• When diluting moonshine, the temperature of both liquids should be the same and be in the range of 10-20 ° C.

4. Wrong containers

We are talking about all the containers used in the process of preparation and storage: fermentation containers, cubes of moonshine stills and dishes for collecting and storing alcoholic beverages.

The main rule of absolutely all home distillers and brewers is to disinfect the equipment every time before using it!

With regards to the storage of moonshine, only glass containers are suitable.

5. Imperfections of the moonshine still

We are talking about both shortcomings in the design and in the materials from which it is made. So, low-quality materials can enter into an oxidation reaction, which proceeds especially rapidly with high acidity of the mash. After oxidation, the distillate is not only cloudy, but also yellow.

With such violations, the opalescence of moonshine may not occur immediately, but only after a few days!

There is only one advice here - any moonshine that you want to use or just buy, at least, should be made of food grade stainless steel.

Purification of moonshine

As we said earlier, cloudy moonshine can be “reanimated”. The main thing is to understand the cause of the appearance of opalescence and to exclude its occurrence in the future.

If you properly clean cloudy moonshine, then you will retain its taste and restore transparency!

So, cleaning methods:

1. Redistillation

As you understand from the name, you need to distill the moonshine a second time with division into fractions. Just remember to dilute it with water to 20-30% vol.

2. heating

Perhaps the easiest way to clean, but with a flaw - you will not always get the desired transparency.

You need to heat the distillate to 70°C, then cool it down sharply. in this way you will achieve a precipitation that is easily filtered out.

Be careful, heated moonshine is highly flammable.

3. Cooling

If you have an aluminum pot and a roomy freezer, then this method is just right for you.

Pour the cloudy moonshine into a saucepan, cover and place in the freezer for 12-15 hours. During this period, fusel oils will freeze to the surface of the pan, and alcohol will remain liquid, as it has a lower freezing point.

4. Charcoal cleansing

If you want to purposefully make cloudy moonshine, then here are a few simple ways opalescent alcoholic drink at home:

• Add whey in a ratio of 5-15 ml per 500 ml of moonshine;
• Add powdered milk in the ratio of 2-7 grams per 0.5 liter;
• Add a few drops of vegetable oil to 1 liter of alcohol.

The quality of the alcoholic beverage will not change when performing these methods!

opalescence

OPALECTION and, well. opalescence, German. Opaleszenz lat. - see opal + - escentia denoting weak action. physical The phenomenon of light scattering by a turbid medium due to optical inhomogeneity. Krysin 1998. opalescent . Liquid air, when we get it directly from the car, is a bluish liquid, opalescent due to the presence of carbon dioxide crystals in it. CM 1908 1 2 20. If it is cloudy or opalescent, this is a sign of insufficient strength. ESH 1900 2 365. - Lex. SIS 1954: disgrace/ ntion.

Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language. - M.: Dictionary publishing house ETS http://www.ets.ru/pg/r/dict/gall_dict.htm. Nikolay Ivanovich Epishkin [email protected] . 2010 .

Synonyms:

See what "opalescence" is in other dictionaries:

opalescence- scattering Dictionary of Russian synonyms. opalescence n., number of synonyms: 1 scattering (18) ASIS synonym dictionary. V.N. Trishin ... Synonym dictionary

OPALECTION- critical sharp increase in light scattering by pure substances (gases or liquids) in critical states, as well as solutions when they reach critical mixing points. It is explained by a sharp increase in the compressibility of a substance, as a result of ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

OPALECTION- CRITICAL sharp increase in light scattering by pure substances in critical states ... Physical Encyclopedia

OPALECTION- an optical phenomenon that manifests itself in the fact that the sun seems reddish, and distant objects (distance) bluish. It is caused by the presence of the smallest dust particles in the air; most often and most strongly observed in the masses of marine tropical air ... Marine Dictionary

OPALECTION Critical opalescence - a sharp increase in the scattering of light by pure substances (gases or liquids) in critical states, as well as solutions when they reach critical mixing points. It is explained by a sharp increase in the compressibility of a substance, as a result of which the number of density fluctuations in it increases, on which light is scattered (a transparent substance becomes cloudy).

Big Encyclopedic Dictionary. 2000 .

Synonyms:

See what "OPALECTION" is in other dictionaries:

Scattering Dictionary of Russian synonyms. opalescence n., number of synonyms: 1 scattering (18) ASIS synonym dictionary. V.N. Trishin ... Synonym dictionary

CRITICAL A sharp increase in the scattering of light by pure substances in critical states ... Physical Encyclopedia

An optical phenomenon in which the sun appears reddish and distant objects (distance) appear bluish. It is caused by the presence of the smallest dust particles in the air; most often and most strongly observed in the masses of marine tropical air ... Marine Dictionary

Iridescent play of colors, characteristic of opals and other gels, apparently due to the cellular structure. O. of crystalline minerals, for example, quartz, is usually associated with an abundance of regularly faceted voids. Geological dictionary: in 2 volumes. M.: Nedra. Under … Geological Encyclopedia

opalescence- a sharp increase in the scattering of light in the environment, clouding of the environment ... Source: METHODOLOGY FOR EXPRESS ASSESSMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATION AT A MILITARY FACILITY (approved by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on 08.08.2000) ... Official terminology

opalescence- and, well. opalescence, germ. Opaleszenz lat. see opal + suffix escentia denoting weak action. physical The phenomenon of light scattering by a turbid medium, due to its optical inhomogeneity. Krysin 1998. Opalescent. Liquid air when we ... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

opalescence- Milky or pearl color or luster of the mineral. [English Russian Gemological Dictionary. Krasnoyarsk, KrasBerry. 2007.] Topics gemology and jewelry production EN opalescence … Technical Translator's Handbook

opalescence- - light scattering by a colloidal system, in which the refractive index of the particles of the dispersed phase differs from the refractive index of the dispersion medium. General chemistry: textbook / A. V. Zholnin ... Chemical terms

Opalescence 1) an optical phenomenon consisting in a sharp increase in the scattering of light by pure liquids and gases when they reach a critical point, as well as by solutions at critical mixing points. The reason for the phenomenon is a sharp increase ... Wikipedia

- (opal + lat. escentia suffix meaning weak action) phases. the phenomenon of light scattering by a turbid medium due to its optical inhomogeneity; observed, for example, when illuminating most colloidal solutions, as well as in substances in ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

OPALECTION(lat. opalus opal) - the phenomenon of light scattering by colloidal systems and solutions of macromolecular substances, observed in reflected light. O. is due to the diffraction of light produced by colloidal particles or macromolecules.

Measurement of O.'s intensity, made with the help of nephelometers and special photometers, is widely used in determining the concentration of proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, polysaccharides and other macromolecular substances in biol, liquids, as well as in measuring a pier. weight (mass) of biopolymers in solutions and micellar mass of colloidal particles (see Nephelometry). The phenomenon of diffraction light scattering is the basis for determining the size and shape of colloidal particles using an ultramicroscope (see); it is a reliable sign for distinguishing colloidal solutions from true solutions of low molecular weight substances. Opalescence explains the turbidity of colloidal solutions and solutions of macromolecular substances in their side illumination, as well as the different color of the same colloidal solution when viewed in transmitted and reflected light. So, for example, colloidal solutions of sulfur in transmitted light are transparent and have a red color, in reflected light they are cloudy and colored blue.

O. of colloidal solutions of gold was first studied by Faraday (M. Faraday) in 1857. This phenomenon was studied in more detail by J. Tyndall, who published in 1869 the results of his observations. He discovered that in the dark the path of a strong beam of light passing through any colloidal solution, when viewed from the side, looks like a luminous cone (the so-called Tyndall cone).

Theoretically, the O. phenomenon was substantiated by J. W. Rayleigh in 1871. For spherical, non-conductive electric current particles whose dimensions are small compared to the wavelength of the light incident on them, Rayleigh derived the following equation:

where I is the light intensity observed in the direction perpendicular to the incident light beam; n is the number of light-scattering particles per unit volume; v is the volume of the particle, λ is the wavelength of the incident light; I 0 - the intensity of the initial beam of light; K is a coefficient of proportionality, the value of which depends on the difference between the refractive indices of light of the dispersed phase and the dispersion medium and on the distance from the particles to the observer.

If passing through colloid system light is not monochromatic, then short-wave rays are scattered to a greater extent, which explains the different coloring of colloidal solutions when observed in transmitted and reflected light.

Light scattering produced by coarsely dispersed systems (suspensions and emulsions) differs from optical scattering in that it is observed not only in reflected but also in transmitted light and is due to the reflection and refraction of light by microscopic particles. It is easy to distinguish O. from fluorescence (see) by introducing a red light filter on the path of the beam, to-ry, delaying the short-wave part, quenches fluorescence, but does not eliminate O.

Bibliography: Voyutsky S. S. Course of colloidal chemistry, M., 1975; Y and rgyo n-with about n with B. Natural organic macromolecules, trans. from English, p. 72, Moscow, 1965; Williams W. and Williams X.’ Physical chemistry for biologists, trans. from English, p. 442, M., 1976.