Nomenclature
CAS number: 7778-80-5
Sulfuric acid potassium salt (1:2); sal polychrestum; arcanum duplicatum; tartarus vitriolatus.
K
2O
4S; mol wt 174.26.
K 44.87%, O 36.73%, S 18.40%.
K
2SO
4.
Description and references
Contains at least 99% K2SO4.
Properties
Colorless or white, odorless, hard, bitter crystals,
or white granules or powder; permanent in air. d 2.66; mp 1067°. nD20 1.49333-1.49733. One
gram dissolves in 8.3 ml water, 4 ml boiling water, 75 ml glycerol.
Insol in alcohol. Its soly in water is decreased by KCl or (NH4)2SO4 and is practically insol in a
saturated soln of the latter. The aq soln is neutral. pH about 7.Caution
Swallowing large doses causes severe
G.I. irritation.Use
Technical grades are used in fertilizers for manuf
of potassium alum, potassium carbonate and glass; the reagent grade
is used in the Kjeldahl determination of nitrogen.
Therapeutic Category
Cathartic.
Keywords
Laxative/Cathartic