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Name: sulphur
Symbol: S
Atomic number: 16
Atomic weight: 32.065 (5) g r
CAS Registry ID: 7704-34-9
Group number: 16
Group name: Chalcogen
Period number: 3
Block: p-block
Sulphur is a pale yellow, odourless, brittle solid, which is insoluble in water but soluble in carbon disulphide. Sulphur
is essential to life. It is a minor constituent of fats, body fluids, and skeletal minerals.
Most of the sulfur that is produced is used in the manufacture of sulfuric acid (H2SO4). Large amounts of sulfuric acid,
nearly 40 million tons, are used each year to make fertilizers, lead-acid batteries, and in many industrial processes. Smaller
amounts of sulfur are used to vulcanize natural rubbers, as an insecticide (the Greek poet Homer mentioned "pest-averting
sulphur" nearly 2,800 years ago!), in the manufacture of gunpowder and as a dying agent.
In addition to sulfuric acid, sulfur forms other interesting compounds. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a gas that smells like
rotten eggs. Sulfur dioxide (SO2), formed by burning sulfur in air, is used as a bleaching agent, solvent, disinfectant and
as a refrigerant. When combined with water (H2O), sulfur dioxide forms sulfurous acid (H2SO3), a weak acid that is a major
component of acid rain.
The element Sulphur is a non-metal and will not dissolve in water. The pure element Sulphur has very little smell. The
smell you might associate with Sulphur bad eggs is actually a compound of Sulphur, the gas known as hydrogen sulphide.
Sulphur compounds are also responsible for the smell in garlic, mustard, onions and cabbage. A Sulphur compound even gives
skunks their ferociously powerful and long-lasting smell. Indeed, Sulphur is a part of all living tissues. Sulphur is fixed
into proteins in plants, and acquired by animals who eat the plant materials.
Did You Know?
· Sulphur is the 16th most abundant element in nature. It is found in the earth's crust, in the ocean and even in meteorites.
· 55 percent of Sulphur is used in the production of Fertilizer. 45 percent is used in producing commercial products.
· Sulphur is found in foods - onions, eggs, cauliflower, and soybean flour.
· Sulphur is found in humans, chickens, and sheep.
· Sulphur is used in matches and fireworks because it burns easily. Its ancient name "brimstone" means "the
stone that burns".
· In 1839, Charles Goodyear accidentally dropped a mixture of rubber and Sulphur into a fire. Goodyear called his rubber
materials "vulcanized" after Vulcan the Roman god of fire.
· In the 1800s, mothers in Britain often gave their ch
ildren a spoonful of Sulphur and molasses as a spring tonic. Today, Sulfa drugs fight the bacteria that cause meningitis.
Sulphur ointments treat skin infections.
· Sulphur dates back thousands of years. Ancient Egyptians made paints with it and bleached their linens with it (as SO2).
Early Chinese first used it to make gunpowder. Ancient Greeks used it as a disinfectant and medicine.
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