The Colors of Sulfur

Baskets full of bright yellow sulfur mined from Kawah Ijen volcano in Indonesia

Bicho_raro / Getty Images
By
Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
Chemistry Expert
  • Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
  • B.A., Physics and Mathematics, Hastings College
Dr. Helmenstine holds a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences and is a science writer, educator, and consultant. She has taught science courses at the high school, college, and graduate levels.
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Updated on October 19, 2019

When you get right down to it, most the chemical elements have a ho-hum appearance. Silver. Gray. Silvery-White. Blue-Gray. Metals. Boring. Sulfur is different. The solid is bright yellow. If you melt sulfur, you get a blood-red liquid. If you set it on fire, you get a blue flame.

A large sulphur spring area below Namafjall Mountain in Iceland
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10 Interesting Sulfur Facts
By Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.

About Sulfur

Sulfur is a common element. It's necessary for life, yet some of its compounds are toxic. For example. though you can metabolize a small amount of hydrogen sulfide, it doesn't take much to induce respiratory paralysis, which can lead to death. Though hydrogen sulfide has a distinctive rotten egg odor, the gas also deadens the sense of smell, so you can't gauge exposure using your nose.

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Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "The Colors of Sulfur." ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/colors-of-sulfur-3976102. Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. (2020, August 28). The Colors of Sulfur. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/colors-of-sulfur-3976102 Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "The Colors of Sulfur." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/colors-of-sulfur-3976102 (accessed April 26, 2024).