Uses of Sulfur (S) in Everyday Life

Sulfur at work around you

Every use below comes straight from the full Sulfur study page, where each point also carries the chemistry behind it and an exam-style question. Skim the list here; open the full page when revision time comes.

Uses of Sulfur in the study notes

• Making sulfuric acid ($\mathrm{H_{2}SO_{4}}$), the "king of chemicals" — TSP-type fertiliser plants and the lead-acid batteries of cars, IPS units and rickshaw lamps all stand on it.
• Gunpowder and match chemistry — black powder mixes sulfur with saltpetre ($\mathrm{KNO_{3}}$) and charcoal, while matchheads rely on sulfur plus phosphorus to catch fire.
• Vulcanising rubber — Charles Goodyear’s 1839 trick of heating raw rubber with sulfur is what makes tyres, hoses and shoe soles tough yet flexible.
• Sulfur dust as a fungicide on mango, cucumber and vegetable fields, and the age-old sulfur ointment still dabbed on the itch of scabies.

Where you meet it

• Rotten eggs release hydrogen sulfide ($\mathrm{H_{2}S}$), the "smell of sulfur"; the pungency of onion and garlic comes from sulfur compounds as well.
• Volcano craters and hot springs, from Sicily to Java’s Kawah Ijen, are fringed with crystals of pure native sulfur.
• Dried apricots and raisins keep their golden colour because they were fumigated with $\mathrm{SO_{2}}$, and a struck match releases its own tiny puff of the same gas.