Sulfur

Sulfur (or sulphur; see spelling below) is the chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is an abundant, tasteless, odorless, multivalent non-metal. Sulfur, in its native form, is a yellow crystaline solid. In nature, it can be found as the pure element or as sulfide and sulfate minerals. It is an essential element for life and is found in several amino acids. Its commercial uses are primarily in fertilizers but it is also widely used in gunpowder, matches, insecticides and fungicides.

History

Sulfur (Sanskrit, sulvere; Latin sulpur) was known in ancient times, and is referred to in the Biblical Pentateuch (Genesis). English translations of this commonly refer to sulfur as "brimstone", giving rise to the name of 'Fire and brimstone' sermons, which are sermons where hell and eternal damnation for sinners is stressed. It is from this part of the Bible that hell is thought to smell of sulfur.

Related Topics:
Sanskrit - Latin - Biblical - Pentateuch - Genesis - Sermon - Hell

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The word itself is almost certainly from the Arabic sufra meaning yellow, from the bright color of the naturally-occurring form.

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Homer mentioned "pest-averting sulfur" in the 9th century BC and in 424 BC, the tribe of Boeotia destroyed the walls of a city by burning a mixture of coal, sulfur, and tar under them.

Related Topics:
Homer - 9th century BC - 424 BC - Boeotia

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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. In the late 1770s, Antoine Lavoisier helped convince the scientific community that sulfur was an element and not a compound.

Related Topics:
12th century - Chinese - Gun powder - Potassium nitrate - K - N - O - Carbon - Alchemists - 1770s - Antoine Lavoisier

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In 1867 sulfur was discovered in underground deposits in Louisiana and Texas. The overlying layer of earth was quicksand, prohibiting ordinary mining operations. Therefore the Frasch process was utilized.

Related Topics:
Louisiana - Texas - Quicksand - Frasch process

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