Interesting Facts About sulphur

sulphur is a non-metal element with 'pale yellow' color and atomic weight 32.06. It's found in solid state in nature. It has melting point- 15.2 oC and boiling point- 444.7 oC. It's insoluble in water.

sulphur is one of the basic chemical elements, widely found in nature. It captures 0.05 percent of earth's crust and that's why, it's called the 17th most abundant element found in earth crust. A small amount of sulphur is found in all living creatures, including humans. Also stakes of elemental sulphur are found in large amount around volcanoes.

A significant amount of sulphur compound like hydrogen sulfide, sulphur dioxide etc is found in various natural gases and oils. For the environment safety and purification of these gases and oils, sulphur compounds are removed from them, mostly by using claus process. Thus, these crude gases and oils are also a big source of elemental sulphur.

sulphur is not an element which is produced intentionally, but they are either occurred naturally or are recovered from the other processing.

sulphur has many uses in the industrial and daily life. The biggest commercial use of sulphur is in producting sulphuric acid which is used in lead acid batteries for automotive uses. Other uses of sulphur include gunpowder, fungicide, vulcanization of natural rubber, detergents, fertilizers etc.

• The amount of sulphur on earth is 3% of its mass, which is twice to the size of moon.
• sulphur is known from the ancient times, as its name is taken from a Sanskrit word- 'Shulbari', which is made by combining 'Shulba' and 'Ari'. Meaning of 'Shulba' is copper and 'Ari' means enemy. Sanskrit is one of the oldest languages of the world- over 3000 years old.
• Another evidence of sulphur's identification in ancient time is, its mention in 'Bible' with the name 'Brimestone' which means 'burn stone'.
• sulphur produce sulphur dioxide when burns, which is considered effective in curing infectious diseases. This use of sulphur is mentioned in 2800 years old poem of homer- 'The Odyssey'- "Bring sulphur, old nurse, that cleanses all pollution, and bring me fire, that I may purify the house with sulphur."
• The first recipe of gunpowder, which was found in text in year 808, included the name of 'sulphur' along with saltpeter and carbon.
• sulphur found recognition as a chemical element in 1789 by Antoine Lavoisier who was the famous chemist of that time.
• By the 1800s, sulphur began to be considered a sign of prosperity of country. Also they had gone for war over sulphur.
• Some compounds of sulphur are known for their smell, like hydrogen sulfide (H2S) which is used in stink bombs.