Sulfur/BrimstoneWikipedia - Sulfur or sulphur (play /ˈsʌlfər/ SUL-fər; see spelling below) is the chemical element that has the atomic number 16. It is denoted with the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Sulfur, in its native form, is a bright yellow crystalline solid. In nature, it can be found as the pure element and as sulfide and sulfate minerals. It is an essential element for life and is found in two amino acids: cysteine and methionine. Its commercial uses are primarily in fertilizers, but it is also widely used in black gunpowder, matches, insecticides and fungicides. Elemental sulfur crystals are commonly sought after by mineral collectors for their brightly colored polyhedron shapes. In nonscientific contexts, it can also be referred to as brimstone.
PhysicalAt room temperature, sulfur is a soft, bright-yellow solid with only a faint odor, similar to that of matches (the strong "smell of sulfur" usually refers to the odor of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) or organosulfur compounds). Sulfur is an electrical insulator. It melts slightly above 100 °C and easily sublimes.
ChemicalSulfur burns with a blue flame that emits sulfur dioxide, notable for its peculiar suffocating odor (this is the odor of burnt matches). Sulfur is insoluble in water, but soluble in carbon disulfide — and to a lesser extent in other non-polar organic solvents such as benzene and toluene. Sulfur in the solid state ordinarily exists as cyclic crown-shaped S8 molecules. The crystallography of sulfur is complex. Depending on the specific conditions, the sulfur allotropes form several crystal structures, with rhombic and monoclinic S8 best known.
Unlike most other liquids, molten sulfur increases in viscosity with temperatures of 200 °C (392 °F) due to the formation of polymers. The molten sulfur assumes a dark red color above this temperature. At still higher temperatures, however, the viscosity is decreased as depolymerization occurs.
Amorphous or "plastic" sulfur can be produced through the rapid cooling of molten sulfur. X-ray crystallography studies show that the amorphous form may have a helical structure with eight atoms per turn. This form is metastable at room temperature and gradually reverts back to crystalline form. This process happens within a matter of hours to days but can be rapidly catalyzed.
AnitiquityBeing abundantly available in native form, sulfur (Sanskrit, गन्धक sulvari; Latin Sulphurium) was known in ancient times and is referred to in the Torah (Genesis). English translations of the Bible commonly referred to burning sulfur as "brimstone", giving rise to the name of 'fire-and-brimstone' sermons, in which listeners are reminded of the fate of eternal damnation that await the unbelieving and unrepentant. It is from this part of the Bible that Hell is implied to "smell of sulfur" (likely due to its association with volcanic activity). According to the Ebers Papyrus, a sulfur ointment was used in ancient Egypt to treat granular eyelids. Sulfur was used for fumigation in preclassical Greece; this is mentioned in the Odyssey. Pliny the Elder discusses sulfur in book 35 of his Natural History, saying that its best-known source is the island of Melos. He also mentions its use for fumigation, medicine, and bleaching cloth.
A natural form of sulfur known as shiliuhuang was known in China since the 6th century BC and found in Hanzhong. By the 3rd century, the Chinese discovered that sulfur could be extracted from pyrite. Chinese Daoists were interested in sulfur's flammability and its reactivity with certain metals, yet its earliest practical uses were found in traditional Chinese medicine. A Song Dynasty military treatise of 1044 AD described different formulas for Chinese black powder, which is a mixture of potassium nitrate (KNO3), charcoal, and sulfur. Early alchemists gave sulfur its own alchemical symbol which was a triangle at the top of a cross.
In traditional medical skin treatment which predates modern era of scientific medicine, elemental sulfur has been used mainly as part of creams to alleviate various conditions such as psoriasis, eczema and acne. The mechanism of action is not known, although elemental sulfur does oxidize slowly to sulfurous acid, which in turn (through the action of sulfite) acts as a mild reducing and antibacterial agent.
Modern timesIn 1777, Antoine Lavoisier helped convince the scientific community that sulfur was an element and not a compound. The Sicilian process was used in ancient times to obtain sulfur from rocks present in volcanic regions of Sicily. In this process, the sulfur deposits are piled and stacked in brick kilns built on sloping hillsides, and with airspaces between them. Then powdered sulfur is put on top of the sulfur deposit and ignited. As the sulfur burns, the heat melts the sulfur deposits, causing the molten sulfur to flow down the sloping hillside.
In 1867, sulfur was discovered in underground deposits in Louisiana and Texas. The highly successful Frasch process was developed to extract this resource.
In the late 18th century, furniture makers used molten sulfur to produce decorative inlays in their craft. Because of the sulfur dioxide produced during the process of melting sulfur, the craft of sulfur inlays was soon abandoned. Molten sulfur is sometimes still used for setting steel bolts into drilled concrete holes where high shock resistance is desired for floor-mounted equipment attachment points. Pure powdered sulfur was also used as a medicinal tonic and laxative.
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