Talk:Sodium bisulfate

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[edit] Decomposition

How can this chemical decompose into a compound containing sulfur if it itself contains no sulfur? I suppose it's possible for it to pick up sulfur from hydrogen sulfate in the air, but would it really be a decomposition if that's the case and not just a reaction? It's like saying that hydrogen can decompose above its flash point...into water vapor! ~ Oni Lukos _ct 13:38, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

I don't understand your question, NaHSO₄ does contain sulphur. Can you specify your question? --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 14:08, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

Oh...sorry, brainfart. My bad. That's kind of embarassing. ~ Oni Lukos _ct 22:17, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

Sodium Bisulfate has 4 Oxygen molecules, NaH(SO₄) but the image has only 3, being HNa(SO₃).Dreamm 22:22, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

I've commented out the image until we get a proper one. ~ Oni Lukos _ct 02:00, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Complex of sodium sulfate and sulfuric acid?

The article states "Sodium bisulfate behaves, to some degree, as if it were a complex of sodium sulfate with sulfuric acid. This is evident if either the anhydrous form or the monohydrate come in contact with ethanol, which causes them to separate into those two components.", and cites the Merck Index of Chemicals and Drugs, 9th ed. monograph 8330. However, I do not believe this to be accurate, i.e. mixing ethanol and sodium bisulfate will actually create sulfuric acid and sodium sulfate. I've read numerous reports of people attempting this (some based on the mention in this article, some on a similar mention on various MSDS). All state that when these two substances are mixed, nothing happens at all. Can someone please weigh in on this, and correct it if appropriate? 97.82.247.200 05:21, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

1) The reaction rate of the decomposition of sodium bisulfate with alcohol is dependent upon conditions -- temperature, how finely ground the bisulfate is, whether the bisulfate is anhydrous or monohydrate, how much water is present in the alcohol, and so on. You might have to wait some time before appreciable amounts of H₂SO₄ leach into the alcohol. 2) Even when the reaction does happen, you won't see significant physical change. Sodium sulfate is very insoluble in alcohol. So you will begin with white particles floating around in a clear solution and end with white particles in a clear solution. The only way you can discern if anything happened is to separate some of the alcohol solution from the white particles and test it for the presence of H₂SO₄, and then test the white particles for reduced acidity. Karl Hahn (T) (C) 16:11, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for clearing that up, Karl. :) I think a condensed version of your explanation would improve the mention in the article. 97.82.247.200 01:10, 21 August 2007 (UTC)