Turpentine
Turpentine (spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, wood turpentine) or turps is a solvent and a source of materials for organic synthesis.[1]
Turpentine is a solvent fluid extracted by distilling resin from live trees, mainly pines. It is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons.[2] As a solvent, turpentine is used for thinning oil-based paints, for producing varnishes, and as a raw material for the chemical industry.
The word turpentine comes from the Greek word τερεβινθίνη terebinthine, the name of a species of tree, the terebinth tree.[3]
It is hazardous. It is dangerous to inhale, and can cause fires. Because of this, white spirit (mineral turps) or other substitutes are often used. They are very different chemically.[4]
Turpentine Media
"Herty system" in use on turpentine trees in Northern Florida, circa 1936
Chipping a turpentine tree in Georgia (US), circa 1906–20
A pine tree with a turpentine "cat face", Clinch County, Georgia, US
Turpentine distillery at Manlyn, North Carolina
Reference
- ↑ Mayer, Ralph (1991). The artist's handbook of materials and techniques (5th ed.). New York: Viking. p. 404. ISBN 0-670-83701-6.
- ↑ Kent, James A. 1983. Riegel's handbook of industrial chemistry. 8th ed, Van Nostrand Reinhold. ISBN 978-0442201647 p.569
- ↑ Barnhart, R.K. (1995). The Barnhart concise dictionary of etymology. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 0-06-270084-7.
- ↑ Dieter Stoye, "Solvents" in Ullmann's encyclopedia of industrial chemistry, 2002, Wiley-VCH, Wienheim.