Sulfur and Related Topics

Deposit of sulfur on a rock, caused by volcanic gas

Hydrogen sulfide

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Chemical compound with the formula .

Process flow diagram of a typical amine treating process used in petroleum refineries, natural gas processing plants and other industrial facilities

Sludge from a pond; the black color is due to metal sulfides

A hydrogen sulfide bloom (green) stretching for about 150km along the coast of Namibia. As oxygen-poor water reaches the coast, bacteria in the organic-matter rich sediment produce hydrogen sulfide which is toxic to fish.

At high temperatures or in the presence of catalysts, sulfur dioxide reacts with hydrogen sulfide to form elemental sulfur and water.

Sulfur dioxide

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Chemical compound with the formula.

The blue auroral glows of Io's upper atmosphere are caused by volcanic sulfur dioxide.

A collection of estimates of past and future anthropogenic global sulfur dioxide emissions. The Cofala et al. estimates are for sensitivity studies on SO2 emission policies, CLE: Current Legislation, MFR: Maximum Feasible Reductions. RCPs (Representative Concentration Pathways) are used in CMIP5 simulations for latest (2013–2014) IPCC 5th assessment report.

US Geological Survey volunteer tests for sulfur dioxide after the 2018 lower Puna eruption.

A sulfur dioxide plume from Halemaʻumaʻu, which glows at night

Sulfur dioxide in the world on April 15, 2017. Note that sulfur dioxide moves through the atmosphere with prevailing winds and thus local sulfur dioxide distributions vary day to day with weather patterns and seasonality.

Most sulfur dioxide is produced by the combustion of elemental sulfur.

Drops of concentrated sulfuric acid rapidly decompose a piece of cotton towel by dehydration.

Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid (Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular formula H2SO4.

Chemical element

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Species of atoms that have a given number of protons in their nuclei, including the pure substance consisting only of that species.

$Estimated distribution of dark matter and dark energy in the universe. Only the fraction of the mass and energy in the universe labeled "atoms" is composed of chemical elements.$

Periodic table showing the cosmogenic origin of each element in the Big Bang, or in large or small stars. Small stars can produce certain elements up to sulfur, by the alpha process. Supernovae are needed to produce "heavy" elements (those beyond iron and nickel) rapidly by neutron buildup, in the r-process. Certain large stars slowly produce other elements heavier than iron, in the s-process; these may then be blown into space in the off-gassing of planetary nebulae

Abundances of the chemical elements in the Solar System. Hydrogen and helium are most common, from the Big Bang. The next three elements (Li, Be, B) are rare because they are poorly synthesized in the Big Bang and also in stars. The two general trends in the remaining stellar-produced elements are: (1) an alternation of abundance in elements as they have even or odd atomic numbers (the Oddo-Harkins rule), and (2) a general decrease in abundance as elements become heavier. Iron is especially common because it represents the minimum energy nuclide that can be made by fusion of helium in supernovae.

Mendeleev's 1869 periodic table: An experiment on a system of elements. Based on their atomic weights and chemical similarities.

The history of the discovery and use of the elements began with primitive human societies that discovered native minerals like carbon, sulfur, copper and gold (though the concept of a chemical element was not yet understood).

Natural gas

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Naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes.

Countries by natural gas proven reserves (2014), based on data from The World Factbook

The location of shale gas compared to other types of gas deposits

Natural gas processing plant in Aderklaa, Lower Austria

Schematic flow diagram of a typical natural gas processing plant

Natural gas extraction by countries in cubic meters per year around 2013

Polyethylene plastic main being placed in a trench

Construction close to high pressure gas transmission pipelines is discouraged, often with standing warning signs.

Peoples Gas Manlove Field natural gas storage area in Newcomb Township, Champaign County, Illinois. In the foreground (left) is one of the numerous wells for the underground storage area, with an LNG plant, and above ground storage tanks are in the background (right).

Manhole for domestic gas supply, London, UK

A Washington, D.C. Metrobus, which runs on natural gas

The warming influence (called radiative forcing) of long-lived greenhouse gases has nearly doubled in 40 years, with carbon dioxide and methane being the dominant drivers of global warming.

Gas network emergency vehicle responding to a major fire in Kyiv, Ukraine

Natural gas prices at the Henry Hub in US dollars per million BTUs

Comparison of natural gas prices in Japan, United Kingdom, and United States, 2007–2011

US Natural Gas Marketed Production 1900 to 2012 (US EIA data)

Trends in the top five natural gas-producing countries (US EIA data)

Hydrogen sulfide (which may be converted into pure sulfur), carbon dioxide, water vapor, and sometimes helium and nitrogen must also be removed.

Amino acid

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Amino acids are organic compounds that contain amino (\sNH3+) and carboxylic acid (\sCO2H) functional groups, along with a side chain (R group) specific to each amino acid.

The 21 proteinogenic α-amino acids found in eukaryotes, grouped according to their side chains' pKa values and charges carried at physiological pH (7.4)

Ionization and Brønsted character of N-terminal amino, C-terminal carboxylate, and side chains of amino acid residues

Composite of titration curves of twenty proteinogenic amino acids grouped by side chain category

Share of amino acid in various human diets and the resulting mix of amino acids in human blood serum. Glutamate and glutamine are the most frequent in food at over 10%, while alanine, glutamine, and glycine are the most common in blood.

The condensation of two amino acids to form a dipeptide. The two amino acid residues are linked through a peptide bond

Catabolism of proteinogenic amino acids. Amino acids can be classified according to the properties of their main degradation products:
* Glucogenic, with the products having the ability to form glucose by gluconeogenesis
* Ketogenic, with the products not having the ability to form glucose. These products may still be used for ketogenesis or lipid synthesis.
* Amino acids catabolized into both glucogenic and ketogenic products.

The elements present in every amino acid are carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), and nitrogen (N) (CHON); in addition sulfur (S) is present in the side chains of cysteine and methionine, and selenium (Se) in the less common amino acid selenocysteine.

Periodic table highlighting the first row of each block. Helium (He), as a noble gas, is normally shown over neon (Ne) with the rest of the noble gases. The elements within scope of this article are inside the thick black borders. The status of oganesson (Og, element 118) is not yet known.

Nonmetal

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[[File:Nonmetals in the periodic table.png|thumb|upright=0.85|

Electronegativity values of the group 16 chalcogen elements showing a W-shaped alternation or secondary periodicity going down the group

Modern periodic table extract showing nonmetal subclasses.
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† moderately strong oxidising agent
‡ strong oxidising agent

A small (about 2 cm long) piece of rapidly melting argon ice

A cluster of purple fluorite, a fluorine mineral, between two quartzes

Selenium conducts electricity around 1,000 times better when light falls on it, a property used since the mid-1870s in light-sensing applications.

A crystal of realgar, also known as "ruby sulphur" or "ruby of arsenic", an arsenic sulfide mineral As4S4

Brownish crystals of buckminsterfullerene С60, a semiconducting allotrope of carbon

Germanium occurs in some zinc-copper-lead ore bodies, in quantities sufficient to justify extraction. The pure form costs $360 per 100 grams, as at February 2022.

Fourteen effectively always recognized as such are hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur; the corrosive halogens fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine; and the noble gases helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon; see e.g. Larrañaga et al. While the same authors recognized carbon, phosphorus and selenium as nonmetals, Vernon had earlier reported that these three elements were instead sometimes counted as metalloids.

Pyrite

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Pyrite cubic crystals on marl from Navajún, La Rioja, Spain (size: 95 by, 512 g; main crystal: 31 mm on edge)

An abandoned pyrite mine near Pernek in Slovakia

Crystal structure of pyrite. In the center of the cell a S22− pair is seen in yellow

A pyrite cube (center) has dissolved away from a host rock, leaving behind trace gold

As a replacement mineral in an ammonite from France

Pyrite from Ampliación a Victoria Mine, Navajún, La Rioja, Spain

Pyrite from the Sweet Home Mine, with golden striated cubes intergrown with minor tetrahedrite, on a bed of transparent quartz needles

Pink fluorite perched between pyrite on one side and metallic galena on the other side

SEM image of intergrowth of pyrite cuboctahedral crystals (yellow) and pyrrhotite (pinkish yellow)

The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula FeS2 (iron (II) disulfide).

Polymer

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A polymer ( Greek poly-, "many" + -mer, "part")

Structure of a styrene-butadiene chain, from a molecular simulation.

Some memorable milestones in the history of polymers

Microstructure of part of a DNA double helix biopolymer

A polyethylene sample that has necked under tension.

Thermal transitions in (A) amorphous and (B) semicrystalline polymers, represented as traces from differential scanning calorimetry. As the temperature increases, both amorphous and semicrystalline polymers go through the glass transition (Tg). Amorphous polymers (A) do not exhibit other phase transitions, though semicrystalline polymers (B) undergo crystallization and melting (at temperatures Tc and Tm, respectively).

Phase diagram of the typical mixing behavior of weakly interacting polymer solutions, showing spinodal curves and binodal coexistence curves.

A plastic item with thirty years of exposure to heat and cold, brake fluid, and sunlight. Notice the discoloration, swelling, and crazing of the material

Chlorine attack of acetal resin plumbing joint

Ozone-induced cracking in natural rubber tubing

Prominent examples include the reaction of nitric acid and cellulose to form nitrocellulose and the formation of vulcanized rubber by heating natural rubber in the presence of sulfur.