Chemicals

General Information

The mineral form of copper sulfate is chalcanthite. White copper sulfate is copper sulfate without water in its crystal structure (the pentahydrate group). This can be used as an indicator for the presence of water. White copper sulfate turns blauw when it gets into contact with water.

Copper sulfate is instabel, because the water from its crystal structure has the tendency to dissolve the copper sulfate around it. This way the copper sulfate crystals will slowly loose their shape and will eventually pulverize.[1]

Chemical & Physical Information

Trivial name	Copper Sulfate
Chemical name	Copper(II) sulfate, pentahydrate
Other names	Blue vitriol (EN), koper sulfaat (NL,BE)
Type of chemical	Ionic compound (salt)
Chemical formula	CuSO4, 5H2O
CAS number	7758-98-7 (anhydrous) 7758-99-8 (pentahydrate)
Density	3.603 g·cm-3 (anhydrous) 2.284 g·cm-3 (pentahydrate)
Molar mass	159.61 g·mol-1 (anhydrous) 249.684 g·mol-1 (pentahydrate)
Melting point	650 °C with decomposition, otherwise 110 °C
Boiling point	n/a
Soluble	In water
Solubility (water, 20 °C)	390 g·L-1 (anhydrous)
Crystal system	Triclinic
Appearance	White-gray powder (anhydrous) Blue crystalline solid (pentahydrate)
Colour	Blue
Safety summary	Toxic, harmful for the environment
Safety data	MSDS
Storage	Dry
Extra	-

For more information, also look at the copper sulfate crystals and the copper sulfate minerals.

Photos

(3 cm)

Sources

[1] Wikipedia

[2] Specimen from my personal collection, photo taken by me.

[3] Mullin J.W. - Crystallization, 2001