Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Sulfur |
SulfurNoun1. An abundant tasteless odorless multivalent nonmetallic element; best known in yellow crystals; occurs in many sulphide and sulphate minerals and even in native form (especially in volcanic regions). Verb1. Treat with sulphur in order to preserve; "These dried fruits are sulphured". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "sulfur" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1865. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Chemistry | Chemical element:atomic number 16. Source: European Union. (references) |
Health | An element that is a member of the chalcogen family. It has an atomic symbol S, atomic number 16, and atomic weight 32.066. It is found in the amino acids cysteine and methionine. (references) |
Mining | A. Sulfureted hydrogen, H2 S ; stinkdamp b. One of the elements present in varying quantities in most bituminous coal as part of the ash and deleterious to coke for steelmaking c. An orthorhombic mineral, 128[S] ; native sulfur; dimorphous with rosickyite; soft; yellow; around volcanic fumaroles, in salt deposits associated with limestone, gypsum, and anhydrite; a source of elemental sulfur. Also called brimstone. d. A mining term for iron sulfide (pyrite) in coal seams and with zinc ores in Wisconsin and Missouri. Formerly spelled sulphur.e. See:crude sulfur. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Sulfur (sulphur in British English) is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol S and atomic number 16. An abundant tasteless odorless multivalent non-metal, sulfur is best known as yellow crystals and occurs in many sulfide and sulfate minerals and even in its native form (especially in volcanic regions). It is an essential element in all living organisms and is needed in several amino acids and hence in many proteins. It is primarily used in fertilizers but is also widely used in gunpowder, laxatives, matches and insecticides.
Phosphorus - Sulfur - Chlorine O
S
Se
Full tableGeneral Name, Symbol, Number Sulfur, S, 16 Chemical series Nonmetals Group, Period, Block 16 (VIA), 3 , p Density, Hardness 1960 kg/m3, 2 Appearance lemon yellow Atomic Properties Atomic weight 32.065 amu Atomic radius (calc.) 100 (88) pm Covalent radius 102 pm van der Waals radius 180 pm Electron configuration [Ne]33s2 3p4 e- 's per energy level 2, 8, 6 Oxidation states (Oxide) ±2,4,6 (strong acid) Crystal structure Orthorhombic Physical Properties State of matter solid Melting point 388.36 K (239.38 °F) Boiling point 717.87 K (832.5 °F) Molar volume 15.53 ×1010-3 m3/mol Heat of vaporization no data Heat of fusion 1.7175 kJ/mol Vapor pressure 2.65 E-20 Pa at 388 K Speed of sound __ m/s at 293.15 K Miscellaneous Electronegativity 2.58 (Pauling scale) Specific heat capacity 710 J/(kg*K) Electrical conductivity 5.0 E-22 106/m ohm Thermal conductivity 0.269 W/(m*K) 1st ionization potential 999.6 kJ/mol 2nd ionization potential 2252 kJ/mol 3rd ionization potential 3357 kJ/mol 4th ionization potential 4556 kJ/mol 5th ionization potential 7004.3 kJ/mol 6th ionization potential 8495.8 kJ/mol Most Stable Isotopes
iso NA half-life DM DE MeV DP 32S 95.02% S is stable with 16 neutrons 33S 0.75% S is stable with 17 neutrons 34S 4.21% S is stable with 18 neutrons 35S {syn.} 87.32 d &beta- 0.167 35Cl 36S 0.02% S is stable with 20 neutrons SI units & STP are used except where noted. Notable Characteristics
This non-metal is pale yellow in appearance, soft, light, with a distinct odor when allied with hydrogen (rotten egg smell). It burns with a blue flame that emits a peculiar suffocating odor. Sulfur is insoluble in water but soluble in carbon disulfide. Common oxidation states of sulfur include -2, +2, +4 and +6. In all states, solid, liquid, and gaseous, sulfur has allotropic forms, whose relationships are not completely understood. Crystalline sulfur can be shown to form an 8 membered sulfur ring, S8.Polymeric sulfur nitride has metallic properties even though it doesn't contain any metal atoms. This compound also has unusual electrical and optical properties. Amorphous or "plastic" sulfur is produced through fast cooling crystalline sulfur. X-ray studies show that the amorphous form may have an eight atom per spiral helical structure
Sulfur can be obtained in two crystalline modifications, in orthorhombic octahedra, or in monoclinic prisms, the former of which is the more stable at ordinary temperatures.
Applications
It is used for many industrial processes such as the production of sulfuric acid (H2SO4) for batteries, the production of gunpowder, and the vulcanization of rubber. Sulfur is used as a fungicide, and in the manufacture of phosphate fertilizers. Sulfites are used to bleach papers and dried fruits. Sulfur also finds use in matches and fireworks. Sodium or ammonium thiosulfate are used as photographic fixing agents. Epsom salts, magnesium sulfate, can be used as a laxative, as a bath additive, as an exfoliant, or a magnesium supplement in plant nutrition.Biological Role
The amino acids cysteine, methionine, homocysteine, and taurine contain sulfur, as do some common enzymes, making sulfur a necessary component of all living cells. Disulfide bonds between polypeptides are very important in protein assembly and structure. Some forms of bacteria use hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in the place of water as the electron doner in a primitive photosynthesis-like process. Sulfur is absorbed by plants from soil as sulfate ion. Inorganic sulfur forms a part of iron-sulfur clusters, and sulfur is the bridging ligand in the CuA site of cytochrome c oxidase.History
Sulfur (Sanskrit, sulvere; Latin sulpur) was known in ancient times and was called brimstone in the Biblical story of Pentateuch (Genesis). Homer mentioned "pest-averting sulfur" in the 9th century BC and in 424 BC, the tribe of Bootier destroyed the walls of a city by burning a mixture of coal, sulfur, and tar under them. Sometime in the 12th century, the Chinese invented gun powder which is a mixture of potassium nitrate (KNO3), carbon, and sulfur. Early alchemists gave sulfur its own alchemical symbol which was a triangle at the top of a cross. Through experimentation, alchemists knew that the element mercury can be combined with sulfur. In the late 1770s, Antoine Lavoisier helped convince the scientific community that sulfur was an element and not a compound.Occurrence
Sulfur occurs naturally in large quantities compounded to other elements in sulfides (example: pyrites) and sulfates (example: gypsum). It is found in its free form near hot springs and volcanic regions and in ores like cinnabar, galena, sphalerite and stibnite. This element is also found in small amounts in coal and petroleum, which produce sulfur dioxide when burned. Fuel standards increasingly require sulfur to be extracted from fossil fuels because sulfur dioxide combines with water droplets to produce acid rain. This extracted sulfur is then refined and represents a large portion of sulfur production. It is also mined along the US Gulf coast, by pumping hot water into sulfur containing deposits (such as salt domes) which melts the sulfur. The molten sulfur is then pumped to the surface.Through its major derivative, sulfuric acid, sulfur ranks as one of the more-important elements used as an industrial raw material. It is of prime importance to every sector of the world's industrial and fertilizer complexes. Sulfuric acid production is the major end use for sulfur, and consumption of sulfuric acid has been regarded as one of the best indexes of a nation's industrial development. More sulfuric acid is produced in the United States every year than any other chemical.
The distinctive colors of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io, are from various forms of multen, solid and gaseous sulfur. There is also a dark area near the Lunar crater Aristarchus that may be a sulfur deposit. Sulfur is also present in many types of meteorites.
Compounds
Many of the unpleasant odors of organic matter are based on sulfur-containing compounds such as hydrogen sulfide, which has the characteristic smell of rotten eggs. Dissolved in water, hydrogen sulfide is acidic (pKa1 = 7.00, pKa2 = 12.92) and will react with metals to form a series of metal sulfides. Natural metal sulfides are found, especially those of iron. Iron sulfides are called iron pyrites, the so called fool's gold. Interestingly, pyrites can show semiconductor properties.[1] Galena, a naturally occurring lead sulfide (as the detector in a "cat's hair" rectifier) was of course the original semiconductor discovered.Some important compounds of sulfur include:
- sodium dithionite, Na2S2O4, a powerful reducing agent.
- sulfurous acid, H2SO3, created by dissolving SO2 in water. Sulfurous acid and the corresponding sulfites are fairly strong reducing agents. Other compounds derived from SO2 include the pyrosulfite ion (S2O52-).
- The thiosulfates (S2O32-). Thiosulfates are used in photographic fixing, are oxidizing agents, and ammonium thiosulfate is being investigated as a cyanide replacement in leaching gold.[1]
- Compounds of dithionic acid (H2S2O6)
- The polythionic acids, (H2SnO6), where n can range from 3 to 80.
- The sulfates, the salts of sulfuric acid. Epsom salts are magnesium sulfate.
- sulfuric acid reacting with SO3 in equimolar ratios forms pyrosulfuric acid.
- peroxymonosulfuric acid and peroxydisulfuric acids, made from the action of SO3 on concentrated H2O2, and H2SO4 on concentrated H2O2 respectively.
- thiocyanogen, (SCN)2.
- tetrasulfur tetranitride S4N4.
Isotopes
Sulfur has 18 isotopes, of which four stable isotopes: S-32 (95.02%), S-33 (0.75%), S-34 (4.21%), and S-36 (0.02%). Other than 35S, the radioactive isotopes of sulfur are all short lived. Sulfur-35 is formed from cosmic ray spallation of argon- 40 in the atmosphere. it has a half-life of 87 days.When sulfide minerals are precipitated, isotopic equilibration among solids and liquid may cause small differences in the dS-34 values of co-genetic minerals. The differences between minerals can be used to estimate the temperature of equilibration. The dC-13 and dS-34 of co-existing carbonates and sulfides can be used to determine the pH and oxygen fugacity of the ore-bearing fluid during ore formation.
In most forest ecosystems, sulfate is derived mostly from the atmosphere; weathering of ore minerals and evaporites also contributes some sulfur. Sulfur with a distinctive isotopic composition has been used to identify pollution sources, and enriched sulfur has been added as a tracer in hydologic studies. Differences in the natural abundances can also be used in systems where there is sufficient variation in the S-34 of ecosystem components. Rocky Mountain lakes thought to be dominated by atmospheric sources of sulfate have been found to have different dS-34 values from lakes believed to be dominated by watershed sources of sulfate.
Precautions
Carbon disulfide, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfur dioxide should all be handled with care. In addition to being quite toxic (more toxic than cyanide), sulfur dioxide reacts with atmospheric water to produce acid rain. In high concentration this element can kill quickly by preventing respiration. Sulfur quickly deadens the sense of smell so potential victims may be unaware of its presence.Spelling
Sulfur is traditionally spelled "sulphur" in British English, but IUPAC has adopted the spelling "sulfur", as has the Royal Society of Chemistry Nomenclature Committee. Increasingly "sulfur" is being used in British English instead.See also: sulfur cycle, disulfide bond
External Links
- WebElements.com - Sulfur
- EnvironmentalChemistry.com - Sulfur
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Sulfur."
Synonyms: SulfurSynonyms: atomic number 16 (n), sulphur (v). (additional references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Apparently the difference between a stink bomb and a Level 3 toxic biohazard is two extra drops of sulfur tetraoxide (Malcolm in the Middle; writing credit: Daniel Frenette) Now let's feed him the sulfur. (In Harm's Way; writing credit: James Bassett; Wendell Mayes) | |
Clever | To collect fumes of sulfur, hold a deacon over a flame in a test tube. (references; author: unknown) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
References | |
Books | |
Periodicals |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Figure 22. Chemical elements that are dissolved in sea water. Major elements are sodium, magnesium, calcium, potassium, silicon, carbon, sulfur, oxygen, chlorine, bromine, and iodine. Minor elements are titanium, nitrogen, phosphorus , arsenic, boron, rubidium, cesium, lithium, strontium, barium, zinc, copper, silver, gold, aluminum, lead, manganese, iron, cobalt, and nickel. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now. |  | Spiritus Sulfur. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | The unpleasant odor of flatulence comes from bacteria in the large intestine that release small amounts of gases that contain sulfur. (references) | |
Sulfites can give off a gas called sulfur dioxide, which the asthmatic inhales while eating the sulfited food. This irritates the lungs and can send an asthmatic into severe bronchospasm, a constriction of the lungs. (references) | ||
Business | Equipment need not be the most advanced; a sulfur removal rate of 70% is acceptable. (references) | |
Coal-fired electric power plants are the major contributors to China's sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions problem. (references) | ||
Usually fuel with sulfur content >2% will need FGDs, and only low quality fuel oil and coal would fit into this category. (references) | ||
Economic History | Poland | Natural resources: Coal, copper, sulfur, natural gas, silver, lead, salt. (references) |
Philippines | Other important minerals include gold, nickel, silver, coal, gypsum, and sulfur. (references) | |
Namibia | The country also is a source of gold, silver, tin, vanadium, semiprecious gemstones, tantalite, phosphate, sulfur, and salt. (references) | |
Travel | Qatar | Actual shipments of LNG from this port began in December 1996. The port is also used for exports of sulfur and gas condensates and has the ability to receive general cargo for use in LNG development projects. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Sulfur" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Sulfur" is used about 7 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 7 | 133,076 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "sulfur": Green Sulfur Bacteria ♦ native sulfur ♦ oxides of sulfur ♦ Sulfur Acids ♦ sulfur bacteria ♦ sulfur ball ♦ sulfur bottom ♦ sulfur burner ♦ sulfur butterfly ♦ Sulfur Compounds ♦ sulfur cycle ♦ Sulfur Dioxide ♦ Sulfur Group Transferases ♦ sulfur hexafluoride ♦ Sulfur Isotopes ♦ sulfur mine ♦ sulfur mustard ♦ sulfur number ♦ sulfur oxide ♦ sulfur oxides ♦ sulfur paintbrush ♦ Sulfur Radioisotopes ♦ sulfur water ♦ sulfur yellow ♦ technetium Tc 99m sulfur colloid. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "sulfur": sulfur-containing, Sulfur-Reducing, Sulfur-Reducing Bacteria, Sulfur-Sulfur, Sulfur-Sulfur Bond Isomerases. | |
Ending with "sulfur": Iron-Sulfur, low-sulfur, Sulfur-Sulfur. | |
Containing "sulfur": Carbon-Sulfur Ligases, Carbon-Sulfur Lyases, Iron-Sulfur Proteins. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "sulfur"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | squfuri (sulphur), squfur (brimstone, sulphur). (various references) | |
Arabic | كبريت (match, sulphur), كبرت (sulphur, sulphurise, sulphurize). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | сяра (brimstone, sulphur), жълтозелен (sap-green, sulphur, sulphureous). (various references) | |
Chinese | 硫磺 . (various references) | |
Czech | síra (sulphur). (various references) | |
Danish | svovl (sulphur). (various references) | |
Dutch | zwavel (brimstone, sulphur). (various references) | |
Farsi | گوگرددارکردن . (various references) | |
Finnish | rikki (broken, in pieces, sulphur, worn out, worn through). (various references) | |
French | soufre (sulphur). (various references) | |
German | schwefel (brimstone, sulphur). (various references) | |
Greek | θείο (brimstone, sulphur). (various references) | |
Hebrew | 'ופרית (sulphur). (various references) | |
Hungarian | kén (sulphur). (various references) | |
Italian | zolfo (brimstone, sulphur). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 硫黄 (sulphur). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | いおう (formerly, hereafter, in ancient times, sulphur, the future). (various references) | |
Korean | 황 (sulfuric, sulphur, sulphuric, sulphurs). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ulfursay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | enxofre (brimstone, sulphur). (various references) | |
Russian | сера (brimstone, sulphur). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | sumporski (sulphur), sumpor (brimstone, sulphur). (various references) | |
Spanish | azufre (brimstone, sulphur). (various references) | |
Swedish | svavel (brimstone, sulphur). (various references) | |
Thai | ธาตุกัมมะถัน. (various references) | |
Turkish | sarı lahana kelebeği (sulphur), sülfür sarısı (sulfur yellow, sulphur, sulphur yellow, sulphureous, sulphurous), sülfür (sulphur), kükürt (brimstone, sulphur). (various references) | |
Turkmen | kьkьrt (match). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | сірка (sulphur), обкурювати сіркою (sulfurate, sulfurize, sulphur, sulphurate, sulphurize), зеленувато-жовтий колір (chartreuse, sulphur), зеленувато-жовтий (sulfureous, sulphur, sulphureous). (various references) | |
Welsh | brwmstan (brimstone). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | sulphur, sulphure, sulphuris. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "sulfur": sulfured, sulfuret, sulfureted, sulfureting, sulfurets, sulfuretted, sulfuretting, sulfuric, sulfuring, sulfurize, sulfurized, sulfurizes, sulfurizing, sulfurous, sulfurously, sulfurousness, sulfurousnesses, sulfurs, sulfury, sulfuryl, sulfuryls. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "sulfur": desulfur. (additional references) | |
Words containing "sulfur": desulfured, desulfuring, desulfurization, desulfurizations, desulfurize, desulfurized, desulfurizes, desulfurizing, desulfurs. (additional references) | |
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"Sulfur" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Lutfur, Silford, solur, sulf, sulfar, sulfer, sulfo, sulrur, surfur, Szuluc. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "sulfur" (pronounced su"lfer) |
| 5 | s u" l f er | sulphur. |
| 3 | -l f er | golfer, Telfer, wolfer. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "f-l-r-s-u-u" | |
-1 letter: furls. | |
-2 letters: flus, furl, furs, slur, sulu, surf, ulus, urus. | |
-3 letters: flu, fur, ulu. | |
-4 letters: us. | |
| Words containing the letters "f-l-r-s-u-u" | |
+1 letter: sulfurs, sulfury, unfurls. | |
+2 letters: desulfur, frustule, fulcrums, sulfured, sulfuret, sulfuric, sulfuryl, trustful. | |
+3 letters: desulfurs, frenulums, frustules, fulgurous, furfurals, furiously, furloughs, furuncles, resultful, sulfurets, sulfuring, sulfurize, sulfurous, sulfuryls, thrustful, truckfuls, trunkfuls, trunksful, unrestful. | |
+4 letters: desulfured, fulgurates, fulgurites, funiculars, futureless, luciferous, purposeful, ruefulness, scrofulous, sulfureted, sulfurized, sulfurizes, superfluid, trustfully. | |
+5 letters: desulfuring, desulfurize, distrustful, hurtfulness, mistrustful, resourceful, ruthfulness, sulfureting, sulfuretted, sulfurizing, sulfurously, superfluids, superfluity, superfluous, tumblerfuls, unfrivolous. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Expressions 11. Expressions: Internet 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Translations: Ancient 14. Derivations 15. Rhymes 16. Anagrams | 17. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
