Hello students from Singapore (as well as overseas),
Ever been confused with the chemical name for H2SO4?
Is it Sulphuric Acid or is it Sulfuric Acid to be used?
(Image by keithramsey)
OR
(Image by rpxoman)
Since 16 years ago that i came across H2SO4, i had seen both sulphuric acid and sulfuric acid being used in different textbooks, assessment books and encyclopedias. When we ask teachers or lecturers, they would just say they are the same. In Singapore, however, we have been trained to use “Sulphuric Acid” in our educational system for the past few decades, with H2SO4 being printed as Sulphuric Acid in all our syllabus textbooks and related materials.
I suppose “Sulfuric Acid vs Sulphuric Acid” is similar to the argument of “colour vs color”, which marks the difference in the English and American educational system.
In last December, i came across an email from a friend that informed me that Singapore Education System is going to change from our usual “Sulphuric Acid” to “Sulfuric Acid” from Jan 2009 onwards. Frankly, i did not really care much about it, until recently when i was going through revision with my chemistry class on Preparation of Salts, that a debate came up which “splits” the class into 2 halves – Half of the class have been warned by their school teachers that Sulfuric Acid should be used; while the other half have not hear anything from their teachers and still uses Sulphuric Acid.
In order to get to the truth, i made a call to Ministry of Education (MOE) yesterday and understand the following from the Chemistry Curriculum Officer-In-Charge:
- MOE has received a memo from Singapore Examination and Assessment Board (SEAB) in May 2008
- Directives were sent to all Head-of-Departments (HOD) of Secondary Schools & Junior Colleges in Dec 2008 (confirmed by 2 of my friends which are current school teachers)
- From O Levels -> A Levels, all Chemistry syllabuses in Singapore will aligned themselves to the “International Chemistry Convention” starting Jan 2009, which governs all International Syllabuses
- That meaning, Singapore is the last few countries to finally adopt the “Sulfuric Acid” nomenclature
- Through my discussion with the officer-in-charge, she has also confirmed with me that teachers have been reminded by their Chemistry HOD, to use Sulfuric Acid (rather than Sulphuric Acid) in their teachings and materials
- However, if a student writes “Sulphuric Acid” in his national examinations and O-Levels / A-Levels Examinations, he will NOT BE PENALISED! MOE understands that it will take some time for students to get used to this transition. In fact, many teachers are not used to the transition, that including yours truly (myself) thou i have never called myself a teacher before
- And many of the textbooks and workbooks that were published last year (with sulphuric acid written), have been re-collected back from major bookstores (such as Popular Bookstore). You won’t be able to see them on the bookstore shelves. Only the “revised edition” (with sulfuric acid written) will be available in bookstore – i just check with Popular yesterday, only the Sec 5 N(A) textbook is available. Express Textbook is currently “out-of-stock”. [check out the photos below]
(Sulphuric Acid used in my 2008 edition of Chemistry Workbook)
(Sulfuric Acid used in 2009 revised edition of Chemistry Workbook in Popular Bookstore)
Essentially, following are the changes in terms of nomenclature:
- Sulphur ————–> Sulfur
- Sulphuric Acid ——–> Sulfuric Acid
- Sulphate ————-> Sulfate
- Sulphide ————-> Sulfide
If you are a teacher reading this blog – check with your Chemistry HOD directly (as per advised by officer)
If you are a Chemistry HOD – you can check directly with MOE (as per advised by officer)
If you are a private tutor / educator - i hope this post helps you to answer your student’s doubts
If yoy are a student, this post is of extreme importance to you – Take Note. Let me know if need more info.
If you are a parent – do let your child knows about it. You can contact MOE directly for clarification.
PS: I would love to hear from you. Drop me a comment at “Leave A Reply” below
Much the same can be said for whether the name of element 13, Al, should be spelled
“aluminium” or “aluminum”. Here in Alberta, Canada, high school students were
recently advised that the former spelling is now to be used and the latter is to be
avoided. I understand that the IUPAC has decided to return to the original spelling. I
actually don’t know who gave the element its name; was it Faraday or Hall, or
someone else?
Textbooks printed in Canada will eventually display the name as “aluminium”;
however, those that are printed in the U.S. may very well continue with “aluminum”
for quite some time.
All of this is a perfectly good example of schwa in spoken English – an indistinct,
unstressed vowel sound, i.e. the first “i” in “aluminium”.
Reply
sean Reply:
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:15 am
Hi Clayton Walls,
Thank you for your comments and sharing of what’s acceptable (as well as changes) in Alberta, Canada.
It is indeed confusing for junior chemistry students to have so many versions of chemical name for an element etc. We all know that Chemists (anyone that studies Chemistry) should follow the IUPAC naming of all chemical species. However, there just seems to be too many bureacratic red-tapes for countries and education ministries to better effect the changes in naming. Having said that, i do not know how any changes in Chemistry can be effectively and efficiently brought across the globe in split seconds. The internet seems to be the best method for now.
In Singapore, we are following the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) very closely through the GCE O and A-Levels Syllabuses.
We have been using Aluminium for the past decades, and hope we do not revert to aluminum. (it takes me a while to get used to such changes).
Look forward to hearing from you more.
Cheers
Sean Chua
Reply
im frm pakistan…sooo do i need 2 use sulfuric acid 2?
Reply
sean Reply:
April 21st, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Hi saba,
The confirmation was made by the Ministry Of Education of Singaopore.
Since Pakistan is also under GCE O Levels Syllabus, i believed you should be using Sulfuric Acid also.
Having said that, Best is to check with your school teachers or your countries education ministry.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Sean Master Trainer & Author
WINNERS Education Group
Reply
There’s a spelling error.
Suphur—–>Sulfur
(Sulphur)
=D
Thank you for the info.It’s really helpful.
Reply
sean Reply:
April 21st, 2009 at 11:53 pm
Oopppss…my eagerness to get this exciting news out to all chemistry students…
Correction in spelling made =)
I am glad you find it helpful to you.
Cheers
Sean
Master Trainer & Author
WINNERS Education Group
Reply
thanks for the info. it did help!
Reply
sean Reply:
April 21st, 2009 at 11:56 pm
i am glad to hear that. All the Best to your Chemistry!
To Your Academic Success in Chemistry,
Sean Chua
Master Trainer & Author
WINNERS Education Group
Reply
Thank you so much for posting about the sulphuric and (sulfuric?) acid. I’ve been confusing about tht since months ago. Now tht I knw, both will be accepted, I think I don’t have to worry if I accidentally write sulphuric acid in my O level chemistry paper. Thank you
Reply
sean Reply:
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:00 am
Hi Rin,
I am glad you are benfitting from the latest blogposts.
Indeed, you will not be penalised for using sulphuric acid or sulfuric acid in your written answer.
However, you need to be cautious when the chemical name “sulfuric acid” came out in the exam question.
I.e. you need to know that they are talking about the chemical formulae H2SO4.
This is because i used to have a student that thought “Sulfuric Acid” is different from Sulphuric Acid and make a guess that the chemical formula is H2SO5 etc…do not fall for this trap yeah!
Let me know if you need any clarifications!
To Your Academic Success in Chemistry,
Sean Chua
Master Trainer & Author
WINNERS Education Group
Reply
thank you for posting bout this. Just to check, is the term Sulfide(sulphide) still in use? My teacher said that it is not used anymore, and it’s replaced by sulphate(__)
Reply
sean Reply:
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:03 am
Hi Xin,
I think there might be some miscommunication between your teacher and yourself.
Sulfide refers to the S2- anion while Sulfate refers to the SO42- polyatomic anion.
You might want to clarify with your school teacher again.
Let me know if you need further assistance.
To Your Academic Success in Chemistry,
Sean Chua
Master Trainer & Author
WINNERS Education Group
Reply
Hi, interesting post. I have been thinking about this issue,so thanks for posting. I will certainly be coming back to your blog.
Reply
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