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Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid (Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen, and hydrogen, with the molecular formula H 2 SO 4. It is a colorless, odorless, and viscous liquid that is miscible with water. [7] Structure ...
The contact process is a method of producing sulfuric acid in the high concentrations needed for industrial processes. Platinum was originally used as the catalyst for this reaction; however, because it is susceptible to reacting with arsenic impurities in the sulfur feedstock, vanadium(V) oxide (V 2 O 5) has since been preferred.
Sulfur trioxide (made by catalysis from sulfur dioxide) and sulfuric acid are similarly highly acidic and corrosive in the presence of water. Concentrated sulfuric acid is a strong dehydrating agent that can strip available water molecules and water components from sugar and organic tissue. [141]
The lead chamber process was an industrial method used to produce sulfuric acid in large quantities. It has been largely supplanted by the contact process.. In 1746 in Birmingham, England, John Roebuck began producing sulfuric acid in lead-lined chambers, which were stronger and less expensive and could be made much larger than the glass containers that had been used previously.
The hydrogensulfate ion (HSO − 4), also called the bisulfate ion, is the conjugate base of sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4). [59] [b] Sulfuric acid is classified as a strong acid; in aqueous solutions it ionizes completely to form hydronium (H 3 O +) and hydrogensulfate (HSO − 4) ions.
Sulfur can be found under several oxidation states in nature, mainly −2, −1, 0, +2 (apparent), +2.5 (apparent), +4, and +6. When two sulfur atoms are present in the same polyatomic oxyanion in an asymmetrical situation, i.e, each bound to different groups as in thiosulfate, the oxidation state calculated from the known oxidation state of accompanying atoms (H = +1, and O = −2) can be an ...
Treatment of sulfur with hydrogen gives hydrogen sulfide.When dissolved in water, hydrogen sulfide is mildly acidic: [5] H 2 S ⇌ HS − + H +. Hydrogen sulfide gas and the hydrosulfide anion are extremely toxic to mammals, due to their inhibition of the oxygen-carrying capacity of hemoglobin and certain cytochromes in a manner analogous to cyanide and azide.
Venus's sulfuric acid rain never reaches the ground, but is evaporated by the heat before reaching the surface in a phenomenon known as virga. [59] It is theorized that early volcanic activity released sulfur into the atmosphere and the high temperatures prevented it from being trapped into solid compounds on the surface as it was on the Earth ...