Wikipedia:Peer review/Sulfur/archive1

Sulfur

This peer review discussion has been closed.
Why?

Here's why this article is here. Despite the article failing the B-class criterion, there are sufficient references to prevent a cleanup tag from being inserted. I think that this is a nice article, just waiting for references and some occasional content gaps to be filled.

Important: Check whether the article meets WP:B? during the duration of this review, and update related pages if so.

FREYWA 05:50, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

Comments by stone

• Where does the sulfur in Sicily come from? The salt dome deposits are well explained and the volcanic sources are also clear, but why sicily?
  •  Done FREYWA 03:17, 5 August 2011 (UTC)
• The possibility to produce sulfuric acid also from pyrite should be mentioned and that that method was historic the more important one until sulfur became cheap by using the Frash extraction method. The price spike in the last years lead to the start of sulfur production from pyrite I read somewhere?
  •  Done FREYWA 09:15, 6 August 2011 (UTC)
    • Now the text says that pyrite was a source for sulfur which is wrong. pyrite was the main source for sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid production shifted to sulfur as starting material after it became cheaper to produce from sulfur than from pyrite.--Stone (talk) 12:24, 9 August 2011 (UTC)
      • The article deals with sulfur, not sulfuric acid. Stay on track. FREYWA 03:07, 10 August 2011 (UTC)
        • Pyrite was never a source for sulfur via sulfuric acid. The text now is wrong. Stay with the facts.--Stone (talk) 08:49, 11 August 2011 (UTC)
          • Look here! FREYWA 02:51, 14 August 2011 (UTC)
            • Where? In the book I find no mentioning of large scale production of sulfur from sulfuric acid. Or does the sentence say, that pyrite was a main source for sulfuric acid a sulfur compound?--Stone (talk) 10:04, 14 August 2011 (UTC)
              • Page 43. Sulfur, not sulfuric acid. FREYWA 03:18, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
• The history section deals with the use in furniture decoration. Was this the only important use in Modern times?
  •  Done FREYWA 03:07, 10 August 2011 (UTC)
• Fungicide and pesticide says "Some livestock owners set out a sulfur salt block as a salt lick." So they use it to kill fungi and pest within the livestock?
  • I don't know who did it, but it's  Done. FREYWA 08:15, 23 August 2011 (UTC)

--Stone (talk) 10:08, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

• Characteristics Physical
  • The ionization energies and the most stable oxidation states can easily go into the chemistry section.
    •  Done FREYWA 02:22, 19 August 2011 (UTC)
  • Is the fact that it is an isolator also responsible that it is was used to produce static electricity?
    •  Not done Please be more specific. FREYWA 02:22, 19 August 2011 (UTC)

• Characteristics Chemical
  • This section is way too short.
    •  Done FREYWA 02:22, 19 August 2011 (UTC)

• Characteristics Allotropes and Polymeric sulfur
  • Is the polymer an allotrope?
    •  Done FREYWA 02:22, 19 August 2011 (UTC)

• Natural occurrence
  • The transformation of sulfides to sulfates during weathering when in contact with the oxygen containing atmosphere might be worth mentioning.

• Production
  • Sulfur block storage of sulfur in Kazakhstan and Canada due to the low price.
  • Sulfur concrete as a sink for the unwanted sulfur.
    •  Done FREYWA 08:10, 25 August 2011 (UTC)
  • The prize shock in the 2000s due to a very short phase in which more sulfur was consumed than the producers could deliver. (The million tonnes of stored sulfur were not available fast enough.)
    • Oh, you mean the 2000s commodities boom?  Doing... FREYWA 02:09, 17 August 2011 (UTC)
      • Not really the price rose from 2007 to 2008 700% [1] with an average price of $262.32 in 2008 and an average price of $1.73 in 2009. The peeking at $618.50 and the free fall to 0$ in the following year make a nice story.--Stone (talk) 06:39, 17 August 2011 (UTC)
        • Fixed it, but it's a bit shaky.  Done FREYWA 08:40, 27 August 2011 (UTC)
  • The major consumer of sulfur the sulfuric acid production can shift to pyrite as source if necessary, but only if they have time to do costly modifications of their factories.
    •  Not done FREYWA 03:18, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

• Applications Sulfuric acid
  • Is ther newer production number?
  • Is a catalyst needed for the process? contact process (DCDA) or the wet sulfuric acid process
  •  Not done: this is about sulfur, not sulfuric acid, like I said earlier. That info would go to the sulfuric acid article. FREYWA 03:18, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

• History
  • The 1840 sulfur conflict between France and Great Britain.--Stone (talk) 10:04, 14 August 2011 (UTC) doi:10.1177/026569149502500201
    •  Done FREYWA 03:18, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
• "Then powdered sulfur is put on top of the sulfur deposit and ignited. As the sulfur burns, the heat melts the sulfur deposits, causing the molten sulfur to flow down the sloping hillside." - sulfur is used to extract sulfur? Bulwersator (talk) 17:59, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
  • And 5x sulfur in two sentences is a bit strange Bulwersator (talk) 18:00, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
    •  Done FREYWA 02:09, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

Comments by RJH

• Several sections lack citations.
• A number of sections seem too short.
• These don't quite make sense to me:
  • "...leads to its negatives charge..."
  • "with more respect to +4 and +6 states"
    •  Done FREYWA 02:22, 19 August 2011 (UTC)
• "...mentioned for its uses in ancient Greece, China and Egypt": I'd use either historical or alphabetical order for this list.
• Some of the wording seems a little awakward and could benefit from judicious editing:
  • "...with this name still used in several nonscientific terms"
  • "because of the relatively high requirement of plants for it"
  • "with height of the figures caused due to electron orbital transfer"
    •  Done FREYWA 02:22, 19 August 2011 (UTC)
• "the radioactive isotopes of sulfur are all short lived" is vague. Perhaps mention the longest-lived unstable isotope as a particular example.\
  •  Done FREYWA 02:22, 19 August 2011 (UTC)
• "...is created in extremely large and hot (>2.5×10^9 K) stars". It should state this is the temperature of the fusion region. I've addressed this. RJH (talk)
• I understand that sulfur is an important component of the Earth's core; about 12% by mass. Likewise for other planets. Hence it is important in computer models of planetary interiors. That could be discussed in the 'Natural occurrence' section.
• The 'Metal sulfides' section could mention that sulfur is a contaminant that significantly weakens iron and steel; a well known fact in metallurgy and hence the reason for "upgrading" the ores.
• Why is "The Sicilian process was used in ancient times..." in the 'Modern times' section?\
  •  Done FREYWA 02:22, 19 August 2011 (UTC)
• The 'Spelling and etymology' section lacks an origin for the word.[2]
  •  Done FREYWA 02:22, 19 August 2011 (UTC)
• "Sulfur is increasingly used as..." is WP:DATED.
• Since this article discusses notable sulfur compounds, it should have a sentence about mustard gas—an important chemical warfare agent.
  •  Done FREYWA 06:42, 22 August 2011 (UTC)

Thank you. Regards, RJH (talk)