Bisulfates

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Chemical salts formed from bisulfuric acid, containing the hydrogen sulfate ion and widely used in industry and laboratories
2. Compounds that contain the hydrogen sulfate anion paired with a metal or other cation, often employed as acidifiers or cleaning agents
3. Plural forms of a class of acidic salts in which one hydrogen atom of sulfuric acid has been replaced by a positive ion

Etymology: "Bisulfates" is the plural of "bisulfate," a chemical term built from two parts: the Latin prefix "bi-," meaning "two," and "sulfate." The prefix passes through Latin "bi-" (from the older "dwi-" meaning "twice" or "two") before reaching English, so the chemistry term is a modern coinage assembled from classical building blocks rather than an ancient word. In chemistry, "sulfate" names a salt or ester of sulfuric acid, and the "bi-" prefix signals that the compound contains one hydrogen-bearing acid group for each sulfate group, making it an acid salt. Bisulfates are therefore the salts formed when only half of sulfuric acid's acidic hydrogens have been replaced, such as sodium bisulfate.

Synonyms: hydrogen sulfate