What is hydrogen sulfate - Chemistry in the World - Why Is Milk White?: & 200 Other Curious Chemistry Questions (2013)

Why Is Milk White?: & 200 Other Curious Chemistry Questions (2013)

8. Chemistry in the World

What is hydrogen sulfate?

There are two hydrogen sulfates.

There is the hydrogen sulfate ion (also called the bisulfate ion), which has a sulfur atom, four oxygen atoms, and a hydrogen atom.

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It has an extra electron (which makes it an ion) that hangs around one of the oxygen atoms.

If that lone extra electron attracts a proton (making a hydrogen atom) you get the other hydrogen sulfate. Because it has two hydrogens, it would be dihydrogen sulfate.

A more common name for this molecule is sulfuric acid. This is a powerful acid that is widely used in industry. It is the acid used in lead-acid car batteries.

A similar sounding molecule is hydrogen sulfide.

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Hydrogen sulfide is a poisonous gas and is familiar as the smell of rotten eggs.