A colorless viscous liquid, the boiling point of which is 269.2 º, and the specific gravity is 1.83 g / ml at ambient temperature (20º) - this is sulfuric acid. The melting point of this substance is only 10.3 ° C.
The level of sulfuric acid concentration is largely a determining factor in its use in chemistry and industrial production. As a rule, two main conditional divisions of concentration levels are distinguished, although in a strictly scientific sense, it is impossible to draw a numerical line between them. According to this classification, dilute sulfuric acid and concentrated sulfuric acid are released.
Interacting with a number of metals, such as iron, zinc, magnesium, this substance releases hydrogen during the reaction. For example, when interacting with iron, a reaction occurs whose formula is written as follows: Fe + H2SO4 = FeSO4 + H2. It should be remembered that dilute sulfuric acid, the properties of which characterize it as the strongest oxidizing agent, practically does not interact with metals with low activity - copper, silver, gold.
Being a strong oxidizing agent, this compound is capable of oxidizing a very large list of metals; this property determines its widespread use in various fields of industrial production.
As a rule, when interacting with chemically active substances, for example, magnesium or sodium, sulfur (IV) oxide is obtained as a result of the redox reaction, and if these active substances are metals, the result of the reaction is hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and sulfur (S ) These active metals may include calcium, potassium, the already mentioned magnesium and others.
Anhydrous, or as it is also called, highly concentrated sulfuric acid, weakly or almost never interacts with metals, for example, with iron, because iron has an extremely low level of chemical activity. The result of their interaction can only be the formation on the surface of an alloy containing iron, a strong film, the chemical composition of which includes oxides. This is due to the fact that dilute sulfuric acid, and even more concentrated, is stored and transported mainly in containers of metals: titanium, aluminum, nickel.
This substance is able to oxidize non-metals and even manifest its oxidizing properties during reactions with complex substances, which are reducing agents. The nature of the course of such reactions is determined by the degree of concentration that diluted sulfuric acid has in each case. On the other hand, this substance, regardless of the level of concentration, has many characteristic properties that other acids possess. For example, it is able, by interacting with oxides, to lead to the release of salts. The same thing happens when interacting with hydroxides. In addition, dilute sulfuric acid, the formula of which is H2SO4, is a dibasic compound, which also forms some properties characteristic only of it during interactions with other substances. The main thing is that as a result of these interactions, salts of two types are formed: the middle (for concentrated acid) salts are sulfates, and for diluted - acid salts, hydrosulfates.
As already noted, dilute sulfuric acid is an important and common product in the chemical industry. Application in other industrial fields is also multifaceted. So, it is used in the production of artificial fibers and various types of plastics, mineral fertilizers, dyes. The properties of acid are in demand in the manufacture of explosives. In metallurgical production, it is indispensable in the production of metals, and is also widely used as a dehydrator of gases.
Derivatives of sulfuric acid - sulfates - are actively used in agriculture, in industry - in the manufacture of paints, paper, rubber, gypsum and much more.