Surf Wiki
Save to docs
general/sulfuric-acid

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Vitriol

Vitriol is the general chemical name encompassing a class of chemical compounds comprising sulfates of certain metalsoriginally, iron or copper. Those mineral substances were distinguished by their color, such as green vitriol for hydrated iron(II) sulfate and blue vitriol for hydrated copper(II) sulfate.

These materials were found originally as crystals formed by evaporation of groundwater that percolated through sulfide minerals and collected in pools on the floors of old mines. The word vitriol comes from the Latin word vitriolus, meaning "small glass", as those crystals resembled small pieces of colored glass.

Oil of vitriol was an old name for concentrated sulfuric acid, which was historically obtained through the destructive distillation (pyrolysis) of vitriols (sulfates). The name, abbreviated to vitriol, continued to be used for this viscous liquid long after the minerals came to be termed "sulfates". The figurative term vitriolic in the sense of "harshly condemnatory" is derived from the corrosive nature of this substance.

VitriolChemicalCommentFormulaImage
Black vitriolSulfate • Heptahydrate ( Hydrated Sulfate)[Cu,Mg,Fe,Mn,Co,Ni]SO4·7H2O
Blue vitriol/Vitriol of Cyprus/Roman vitriolcopper(II) sulfatepentahydrateCuSO4·5H2O[[File:Blue vitriol monocrystal.jpgframeless]]
Green vitriol/Copperasiron(II) sulfateheptahydrateFeSO4·7H2O[[File:Iron(II)-sulfate-heptahydrate-sample.jpgframeless]]
Oil of vitriol/Spirit of vitriolsulfuric acidacidH2SO4[[File:Sulphuric acid 96 percent extra pure.jpgframelesscenterupright]]
Red vitriolcobalt(II) sulfateheptahydrateCoSO4·7H2O[[File:Cobaltsulfat.JPGframelesscenterupright=0.8]]
Sweet oil of vitrioldiethyl etherNot a sulfate, but can be synthesized from sulfuric acid and ethanolCH3-CH2-O-CH2-CH3[[File:Diethyl ether by Danny S. - 001.JPGalt=Diethyl ether liquid in a brown-tinted glass bottleframeless]]
Vitriol of argile/Vitriol of clayaluminium sulfatealumAl2(SO4)3[[File: Aluminium sulfate.jpgframeless]]
Vitriol of Marsiron(III) sulfateFerric sulfateFe2(SO4)3[[File: Síran železitý.JPGframeless]]
White vitriolzinc sulfateheptahydrateZnSO4·7H2O[[File:Zinc_Sulfate.jpgframeless]]
"Any combination of these elements may be found in black vitriol."

History

The study of vitriol began during ancient times. Sumerians had a list of types of vitriol that they classified according to the substances' color. Some of the earliest discussions of the origin and properties of vitriol is in the works of the Greek physician Dioscorides (first century AD) and the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD). Galen also discussed its medical use. Metallurgical uses for vitriolic substances were recorded in the Hellenistic alchemical works of Zosimos of Panopolis, in the treatise Phisica et Mystica, and the Leyden papyrus X.

Medieval Islamic chemists like Jābir ibn Ḥayyān (died c. 806–816 AD, known in Latin as Geber), Abū Bakr al-Rāzī (865–925 AD, known in Latin as Rhazes), Ibn Sina (980–1037 AD, known in Latin as Avicenna), and Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Watwat (1234–1318 AD) included vitriol in their mineral classification lists.

Sulfuric acid was termed "oil of vitriol" by medieval European alchemists because it did not evaporate spontaneously in air (hence oil vs spirit in archaic parlance), and it was prepared by roasting "green vitriol" (typically a mixture of Iron and Copper Sulfates) in an iron retort. The first vague allusions to it appear in the works of Vincent of Beauvais, in the Compositum de Compositis ascribed to Saint Albertus Magnus, and in pseudo-Geber's Summa perfectionis (all thirteenth century AD).

Systematic attempts to identify and analyze the nature of the various substances classed as vitriols were in full swing by the late 17th Century.

References

References

  1. "[https://www.britannica.com/science/vitriol Vitriol]" entry in the online Encyclopaedia Britannica. Accessed on 2020-08-28.
  2. (1674). "Some Observations and Experiments about Vitriol, Tending to Find Out the Nature of That Substance, and to Give Further Light in the Inquiry after the Principles and Properties of Other Minerals: Communicated by a Fellow of the R. Society, Who Maketh Use of Chymistry Chiefly as Subservient to Physiology". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.
  3. [https://www.chembk.com/en/chem/roman%20vitriol Roman vitriol on Chembk CAS Database]
  4. "Synthesis of Ethers".
  5. (1913). "Chemistry, Inorganic & Organic, with Experiments". P. Blakiston's Son & Co.
  6. (2002). "Vitriol in the History of Chemistry". Chemické listy.
  7. {{harvnb. Karpenko. Norris. 2002
  8. {{harvnb. Karpenko. Norris. 2002
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

sulfuric-acid
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Vitriol — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report