Hydrogen sulfate ion (HSO₄⁻)
- Charge
- −1
- Atoms
- H, S, O × 4
- Atoms in total
- 6
- Mass of the ion
- 97.064 g/mol
Hydrogen sulfate, also called bisulfate, is one hydrogen, one sulfur and four oxygen atoms carrying a 1− charge. It forms when sulfuric acid, H₂SO₄, gives up only one of its two hydrogen ions, so only one negative charge is left behind. You meet it in some toilet bowl cleaners and in the pH-lowering products added to swimming pools.
- Hydrogen in the name shows that sulfate, SO₄²⁻, still holds one H⁺, which makes its charge 1− instead of 2−.
- Hydrogen sulfate can still release its last H⁺ to become sulfate, so solutions of its salts are acidic.
- Sodium hydrogen sulfate, NaHSO₄, is a dry, granular acid used to lower the pH of pool water.