Wiktionary
alt. (context American spelling inorganic compound English) A transparent, oily liquid, formula H2SO4, that is a strong acid with very many industrial applications. n. (context American spelling inorganic compound English) A transparent, oily liquid, formula H2SO4, that is a strong acid with very many industrial applications.
WordNet
n. (H2SO4) a highly corrosive acid made from sulfur dioxide; widely used in the chemical industry [syn: vitriol, oil of vitriol, sulphuric acid]
Wikipedia
Sulfuric acid ( alternative spelling sulphuric acid) is a highly corrosive strong mineral acid with the molecular formula H SO and molecular weight 98.079 g/mol. It is a pungent-ethereal, colorless to slightly yellow viscous liquid that is soluble in water at all concentrations. Sometimes, it is dyed dark brown during production to alert people to its hazards. The historical name of this acid is oil of vitriol.
Sulfuric acid is a diprotic acid and shows different properties depending upon its concentration. Its corrosiveness on other materials, like metals, living tissues or even stones, can be mainly ascribed to its strong acidic nature and, if concentrated, strong dehydrating and oxidizing properties. Sulfuric acid at a high concentration can cause very serious damage upon contact, since not only does it cause chemical burns via hydrolysis, but also secondary thermal burns through dehydration. It can lead to permanent blindness if splashed onto eyes and irreversible damage if swallowed. Accordingly, safety precautions should be strictly observed when handling it. Moreover, it is hygroscopic, readily absorbing water vapour from the air.
Sulfuric acid has a wide range of applications including in domestic acidic drain cleaners, as an electrolyte in lead-acid batteries and in various cleaning agents. It is also a central substance in the chemical industry. Principal uses include mineral processing, fertilizer manufacturing, oil refining, wastewater processing, and chemical synthesis. It is widely produced with different methods, such as contact process, wet sulfuric acid process, lead chamber process and some other methods.
Usage examples of "sulfuric acid".
The potassium ethoxide will neutralize the sulfuric acid creating potassium sulfide in the process.
Here on Venus we were in the middle of a thick cloud of sulfuric acid droplets.
The clouds of Venus turn out to be chiefly a concentrated solution of sulfuric acid.
Organisms live in hot, concentrated solutions of sulfuric acid and in dry Antarctic valleys.
The clouds of Venus are composed of an approximately 75 percent solution of sulfuric acid.
Those creatures shoot sulfuric acid first and don't bother asking questions later.
Acorna realized they were crystallized sulfuric acid, which explained why the visible portion of the hull blurred out of shape, as if melted.
That's when carbonic acid from the groundwater above and sulfuric acid from the hydrocarbon field below went to work dissolving limestone.
The bottle would be filled with a 70 per cent solution of sulfuric acid, sealed with a cork cap which was one fortieth of an inch thick, and then stuck into the hole in the top of the container at twelve noon, when the men left to do their work.
He accidentally spilled a drop of sulfuric acid on the galvanized iron.
The clouds, we now know, are droplets of concentrated sulfuric acid, stained yellow by a little elemental sulfur.
The result was an impact that turned an area of seafloor the size of Belgium into aerosols of sulfuric acid.
It was full of sulfuric acid from the ice clouds, and the impact had injected thin clouds of toxic metals into the atmosphere, metals that now rained out.
Shindo had wisely not revealed that a friend of a friend had smuggled him a copy of the autopsy report, which showed that while Tinh had, indeed, been burned in a vat of sulfuric acid, the coroner had also extracted twenty-five heavy-caliber machine-gun bullets from his flesh.
He had been caught trying to smuggle a kilo of half-refined, opium out of Floating City, having reported It ruined by an excess of sulfuric acid.