Uses of sulphuric acid.
Sulphuric acid is the king of chemicals. It is used in almost all the industries. Industrial development of a country can be best estimated from the annual consumption of H2SO4. In other words it is a barometer of industries.
Some of its important uses are as follows.
- In the manufacture of fertilizer like (NH4)2 SO4.
- In the manufacture of phosphate fertilizer like calcium super phosphate.
- In the refining of petroleum to remove the sulphur and nitrate compounds.
- In the manufacture of HCI, H3PO4 and HNO3. These three are very important mineral acids.
- For the commercial preparation of sulphates.
- H2SO4 is used in the manufacture of
- Many chemicals.
- dyes
- drugs
- plastics
- disinfectants
- paints
- explosives
- synthetic fibres
- In electrical batteries and storage cells.
- As a dehydrating reagent and for drying the gases.
- As a important laboratory reagent.
- In the following industries.
- textile
- iron
- steel
- leather industry
- paper industry
Structure of sulphuric acid.
The oxidation number of sulphur in H2SO4 is +6. It is attached with four oxygen atoms. Hydrogen atoms are attached with oxygen atoms and not with sulpur directly.
When H2SO4 dissociates in water, oxygen hydrogen bonds are broken. The two negative charges on sulphate ions are due to the electrons of hydrogen atoms.
Hence SO4-2 is tetrahedral in structure. All the four bonds are not purely single or purely double. A perfect tetrahedral geometry is developed for SO4-2.
