Sulphur
Sulphur:
Sulphur crystal.
Facts about Silver:
- Sulphur: Sulphur at room temperature is a yellow crystal.
- Fun fact about Sulphur: Sulphur is a smelly element. Indeed, every time we associate a bad smell to rotten eggs, we are recognising the presence of Sulphur gases, in particular H2S. The strong recognisable smell of H2S is however a beneficial property in other contexts. For example, methane gas, the one used in houses, is odourless, which would made it difficult to identify a leakage. H2S is then added to methane to make it smelly and thus making the detection of leakages faster.
- Chemical symbol: S
- Atomic number: 16
A crystal structure containing Sulphur:
A ring of eight suphur atoms.
Facts about this structure:
- Formula: S8
- Structure name: Cyclo(octa-sulfur) or alpha-Sulfur
- Fun fact about the structure: The structure chosen presents elemental Sulphur, i.e., it contains only Sulphur atoms. The atoms create 8-membered rings. Interestingly, Sulphur may be found in rings with 8 atoms also in presence of other molecules in the crystal structure.
- CSD refcode: FURHUV (What’s this?)
- Associated publication: S.J.Rettig, J.Trotter, Acta Crystallogr.,Sect.C:Cryst.Struct.Commun. (1987), 43, 2260
More about Sulphur:
Sulphur (and its smell!) have been known since ancient times. Nowadays, it is common to find this element is a variety of fields, from fertilisers to pharma. As an example, we have already seen the use of H2S mixed with methane to exploit its well-recognisable smell. SO2 is instead employed in the process of wine making as antibacterial, while S8 rings may be present in skin treatment products. Sulphurous thermal waters are also considered to be beneficial for health.
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