Sulfur has been known before the recording of history. It is considered one of the ancient elements (as a mineral).
The specific human who might have been called a discoverer is lost, long ago.
2006-09-28 02:41:19
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answer #1
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answered by Richard 7
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Sulfur (Sanskrit, sulvere; Latin sulpur) was known in ancient times, and is referred to in the Biblical Pentateuch (Genesis). The word itself is almost certainly from the Arabic sufra meaning yellow, from the bright color of the naturally occurring form.[citation needed]
English translations of the Bible commonly refer to sulfur as "brimstone", giving rise to the name of 'Fire and brimstone' sermons, in which listeners are reminded of the fate of eternal damnation that awaits the nonbelieving and unrepented. It is from this part of the Bible that Hell is implied to "smell of sulfur", although as mentioned above sulfur is in fact odorless. The "smell of sulfur" usually refers to the odor of hydrogen sulfide, e.g. from rotten eggs. Burning sulfur produces sulfur dioxide, the smell associated with burnt matches.
Homer mentioned "pest-averting sulfur" in the 8th century BC and in 424 BC, the tribe of Boeotia destroyed the walls of a city by burning a mixture of coal, sulfur, and tar under them. Sometime in the 12th century, the Chinese invented gun powder which is a mixture of potassium nitrate (KNO3), carbon, and sulfur. Early alchemists gave sulfur its own alchemical symbol which was a triangle at the top of a cross. In the late 1770s, Antoine Lavoisier helped convince the scientific community that sulfur was an element and not a compound. In 1867, sulfur was discovered in underground deposits in Louisiana and Texas. The overlying layer of earth was quicksand, prohibiting ordinary mining operations. Therefore the Frasch process was utilized.
2006-09-28 10:31:07
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answer #2
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answered by Anonymous
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