SUL-FUR
Sulfur (S) is one of those elements you can never forget. It is bright yellow in color and it has a really bad smell (like rotten eggs). Beyond the obvious physical traits of sulfur, man has been using this element for thousands of years. Why? Well, you might just find it sitting on the ground. Sulfur is often found near volcanoes and hot springs. Historically, when man finds pure elements that are readily available, he puts them to use. Sulfur is even mentioned in the Bible, where it is called brimstone.
Sulfur is an element that is easy to find on the ground and even easier to find in the periodic table. It's just under oxygen (O) at position sixteen. Naturally occurring sulfur is a yellowish color and is often found as a crystal. At normal temperatures, sulfur is non-reactive. There is a lot of sulfur sitting underground in Texas and Louisiana.
Where can you find sulfur?
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Fertilizer Whenever you fertilize your plants there is a good chance that sulfur is in the fertilizer. Sulfur is an element that helps make the fertilizer healthy for plants. |
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Medicine Sulfur is an important element in medicines. If you have bronchitis and are coughing all the time, sometimes doctors give you sulfa-drugs. This medicine is made with sulfur and helps kill the bacteria making you sick. |
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Volcanoes There is a lot of sulfur near volcanoes. Volcanoes are actually holes in the surface of the Earth. All sorts of chemicals come out of these holes and sulfur is one of them. If you ever get close enough to a volcano you'll be able to smell the sulfur. It smells like rotten eggs. |
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Fireworks Fireworks are also a good place to find sulfur. Fireworks and firecrackers are filled with gunpowder. One of the main ingredients of gunpowder is sulfur. |
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Matches Whenever you see someone light a match, they're using sulfur. Just like fireworks, there is sulfur in matches that sparks and starts the flames. |
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