Natron+Salt


 * Project Topic || Mummification ||
 * Chemistry Topic || The effectiveness of natron as a solution at dehydration ||
 * Hypothesis || If natron is applied to beef as a solid, then it will dehydrate the beef more completely than if it is applied to beef as a solution of water and natron. ||
 * Journal Article: || Lucas, A. (1932). The Use of Natron in Mummification. // Egypt Exploration Society //, // 18 // (3/4), 125-140. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/3854973

Brieri, Bob, and Ronald S. Wade. "The Use of Natron in Human Mummification: a Modern Experiment." . Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 25 June 1994. Web. 9 Jan 2012. .\

Tullo, Alexander H. "Mummy Preservation, When Frankenstein Came To Life ." Chemical and Engineering News. 89.44 (2011): 1-2. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. <[]>.

David, A. R. (1979). //The Manchester Museum mummy project: multidisciplinary research on ancient Egyptian mummified remains//. Manchester, Eng.: Manchester Museum : [|http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=nmO7AAAAIAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA19&dq=natron+solution&ots=fMr9X1jA3f&sig=3IEVgzQU3bvSW1E2qFtRPqOpoA8#v=onepage&q=natron%20solution&f=false] || -Ibad || Water Pure salt (NaCl) 6 10x10 beef cubes || -Ibad || Introduction: With the first mummy dating back to 3400 BC, mummification has long been an effective process for preservation. There have been accounts of “Wet Mummies,” mummies preserved in water such as a mummy from the Ming Dynasty preserved in a flooded coffin (Than), but most accounts tell of mummies treated with salts and oils and then wrapped in linen. This lab explored the mummification process used in ancient Egypt to preserve royalty and whether tissue preserved in a solution can be as effective and efficient as tissue preserved in dry conditions. The procedure for this lab was based off of the Manchester Mummy Project, edited by A. R. David. The team conducted experiments on mice by burying them in mixtures of natron, a natural salt found in Egypt. Natron is composed of sodium carbonate and sodium dicarbonate (baking soda). Some trace amounts of sulfate can be found as an impurity. In the Manchester project, one experiment consisted of burying the mice in a mixture of 60% natron and 40% sodium chloride. In the study, less weight was lost when the mixture with sodium chloride was used (David). In research such as that published in the Journal of Egyptian Archeology, it has not been clear whether mummies were placed in a natron solution or buried in dry natron (Lucas). It is predicted that natron as a solid will be more effective than a natron solution at drawing out water and leaving the meat with more mass. It is also predicted that a mixture of NaCl and natron will not be as effective because in the Manchester study, mice dried in 60% NaCl and 40% natron lost 61% of their body weight while mice in natron lost, on average, 63% o their body weight. Tests will be performed to see which way is more effected at removing water from meat. This lab is based on the process of osmosis, how a solution moves from an area of higher concentration to lower. Water will be drawn out of the meat and towards the less salinified water. This process was described in relat­ion to mummies in the production “Chem Matters.”Cell membranes in the body are semi permeable, so when a dead body is treated with natron, the water in the cells crosses the cell membranes to dilute the concentrated salt solution outside the cells until nearly all the water leaves the cells, which dries up the body.” (Washam). By the end of the experiment it will be determined whether natron is more effective as a solution or a solid. Works Cited David, A. R. (1979). // The Manchester Museum mummy project: multidisciplinary research on ancient Egyptian mummified remains //. Manchester, Eng.: Manchester Museum :. Lucas, A. (1932). The Use of Natron in Mummification. //Egypt Exploration Society//, //18//(3/4), 125-140. Retrieved from [] Than, K. (2011, March 10). //Pictures: Lifelike wet mummy found during roadbuilding//. Retrieved from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/pictures/110310-wet-mummy-china-ming-science-mummies-tomb-chinese-road/ Washam, C. (2012, February). Unwrapping the mystery of mummies. //Chem Matters//. Methods and Materials paragraph This experiment will be performed to see is natron is more effective as a solution or a solid and also if it is more effective combined with pure salt (NaCl) or just natron. The first step is cutting the lamb meat into identical cubes, 25x13x4mm. Next, natron is made by combining 10 mL of sodium carbonate and 10mL of Sodium bicarbonate, or about 18 grams each. The meat is then put into a petri dish and covered with sample 1 of the natro. Sample 2 of natron is then put into 100 mL of H20 and a second meat sample is placed in the solution. Those two samples will be weighed each day for the next 2 weeks. While they are being mummified, a second experiment will be performed. The same dimensions of the same meat are measured. One piece is buried in a natron mixture, just like the previous time. A mixture of 60% sodium chloride and 40% natron is mixed. A piece of meat is buried in the natron-salt mixture. It is left to mummify. These experiments should be repeated 3 times each. Table 1:
 * Lab Procedure: || Two pieces of beef will be massed. One piece of beef will be coated in natron, while another will be placed into a solution with dissolved natron. The solution will contain the same mass of natron as the coating. After a proper period of time has passed, both pieces will be massed. Whichever has lost a greater portion of its own weight (presumably in water) will have undergone the more effective means of dehydration. We will have a control of meat in just water and in air. We will also test the effectiveness of natron versus salt. One piece of lamb will be coated in pure salt, and the other in natron.
 * Apparatus and Chemicals Needed || A mixture of 65% Natron salt (a mixture of sodium carbonate decahydrate, sodium bicarbonate (17%)) and sulphate and sodium chloride
 * Safety Information:Chemicals/Reaction || Natron will react to cause dehydration not because it is a salt, but because it is a combination of sodium bicarbonate and sodium carbonate, each of which should be handled with caution. Sodium bicarbonate can lead to allergic reactions, while sodium carbonate can irritate the skin, eyes, or respiratory tract if close contact is made. Sodium carbonate can also explode should it come into contact with very hot aluminum.
 * Other Information ||  ||
 * || Sample 1: Meat in Dry Natron for 5 days || Sample 2: Meat in Natron Solution for 5 days ||
 * Original (g) || 2.01 || 2.06 ||
 * Dried (g) || 0.75 || 1.25 (0.76 after washing and drying) ||
 * Total weight loss (g) || 1.26 || 0.81 (1.30 after washing and drying) ||
 * Observations || Looked dark red and visibly shrunken || Not as shrunken, crystallized white around the edges ||

Table 2:
 * || Sample 3: Meat in Natron solution for 5 days || Sample 4: Meat in dry natron for 5 days ||
 * Original (g) || 1.99 || 1.97 ||
 * Dried (g) || 1.30 (0.74 after washing and drying) || 0.74 ||
 * Total weight loss (g) || 0.69 (1.25 after washing and drying) || 1.23 ||
 * Observations || Looks similar to Sample 1, with dark reds and spots of white muscle. || Looks similar to Sample 2 with a white crystallized coating around the edges; meat is light pink ||

Table 3:


 * || Sample 5: Meat in dry natron || Sample 6: Meat in dry natron ||
 * Original (g) || 2.51 || 2.48 ||
 * Dried (g) || 1.32 || 1.04 ||
 * Total weight loss (g) || 1.19 || 1.44 ||
 * Observations || It does not appear as dried as the other samples in dry natron and also came out of the petri dish with excess natron coating it, unlike samples 1 and 4. || It does not appear as dried as the other samples in dry natron and also came out of the petri dish with excess natron coating it, unlike samples 1 and 4. ||


 * || Sample 7: Meat in dry natron and NaCl || Sample 8: Meat in dry natron and NaCl ||
 * Original (g) || 4.51 || 4.52 ||
 * Dried (g) || 2.15 || 2.32 ||
 * Total weight loss (g) || 2.36 || 2.20 ||
 * Observations || There is excess natron on this sample that was scraped off. It looks like some preservation has occurred because the meat is darker and slightly shriveled. || It looks the same as sample 5. ||

Figure 1: Weight loss of samples in grams

Meat in dry natron lost more weight than meat in natron solution, as is seen in both tables 1 and 2. These results were obtained from putting each sample in an airtight container for 5 days and weighing the product. Both lost weight but the amount was not as much when the meat was put in solution. After additional treatment the results were very similar, all around .75 grams even with original masses that varied from 1.97g to 2.06g. Table 4 shows results from meat dried in a combination of NaCl and natron. The samples dried in a mixture of salt and natron, samples 7 and 8, lost 51% and 49% respectively. Samples 1 and 4 lost 61% and 63%. Samples 2 and 3 lost 39% and 35%. Samples 5 and 6 lost 47% and 58% of their mass.


 * **Lab 18: Dehydration of tissue in solid and liquid natron and salt compounds: **The purpose of this lab was to discern between multiple methods of dehydration – natron & salt powder, natron solution and natron powder – and arrive at a reasonable conclusion as to which method was the most effective at drying samples of lamb meat. To judge the efficacy of each method, each trial saw pieces of meat of equal masses placed in contrasting conditions and massed and measured afterwards. The meat that had undergone the most profound change in mass and dimension had been through the most effective means of dehydration. The hypothesis seems to have been proved seeing as t hree pieces of meat between masses of 1.97 g and 2.01 g finished their 5-day trials at varying masses while the meat that undergone dehydration in a solid compound lost the most weight. On one occasion, m eat in solutions actually seemed to gain mass over the course of trial. This is of great significance as such data can determine the most productive manner in which an organism's corpse can be dehydrated or preserved.


 * Keywords: **Osmosis, Hypertonic, Hypotonic, natron, dehydration ||


 * Lab 18 Discussion:**

It is unclear whether or not the hypothesis held prior to the experiment is synonymous with the results of the experiment. While the hypothesis expected that meat samples placed in a solid compound of natron (sodium bicarbonate and sodium carbonate) would dehydrate faster and more effectively than samples placed in a natron-water solution, the results show no significant difference between the two methods. The reasoning behind the hypothesis was that osmosis would take place more effectively and allow for the transfer of fluid from the hypotonic meat to the hypertonic natron compound when in direct contact with simply natron, as opposed to a mixture of natron and water. The first data set, Samples 1 and 2, weighed nearly the same – 2.01 and 2.06 g, respectively. Yet after having been placed in the natron mixture and natron solution, it was found that while Sample 1 (solid compound) had been reduced to 0.75 g, Sample 2 had swelled to 2.44 g. This would, however, prove to change. After one day of being left to dry, Sample 2 shriveled to only 1.26 g. After another day in which Sample 2 was washed of what seemed to be excess natron that had clung to the meat, after which the meat was dried, the meat ended at 0.76 g. So, after a rather roundabout method, both meats seemed to share virtually the same weight. However, seeing as Sample 2 had undergone a far longer process of drying (and was probably not covered in so much natron as to make a more than negligible difference) it would seem as though the hypothesis can be confirmed, as the pure natron was able to reduce the meat to about 0.75 g much more efficiently.

The possibility of error, even apart from human error, is great in this experiment. It is possible (although judging from appearance, unlikely) that the solute that tended to coat meat while it was being massed would make a more-than-negligible difference on the scale. Indeed, the observations of the state of the meats following dehydration seem incongruent when looked at in respect to what was expected to happen. The meat that was placed in water seems to have undergone a chemical change, seeing as not only was it white on the surface but white and powdery through and through after having been cut. The significance of this is tremendous. It is possible that the same could happen to animal corpses that were meant to be dried in a mummification-type setting. Further studies will be taken to discover if the meat actually underwent a chemical change, and if so, how and why. 