copper sulphate

British  

noun

1. a copper salt found naturally as chalcanthite and made by the action of sulphuric acid on copper oxide. It usually exists as blue crystals of the pentahydrate that form a white anhydrous powder when heated: used as a mordant, in electroplating, and in plant sprays. Formula: CuSO 4

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Example Sentences

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copper sulphate

Today when industrial-scale food adulteration occurs, such as the 85,000 tonnes of olives treated with copper sulphate that Italian police seized in February, we expect a systemic response.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 18, 2016

In particular, he and his team are working on alternative treatments for common vine mildews; the conventional one, copper sulphate, accumulates in soil in doses that are toxic to wildlife.

From Nature ● Dec. 19, 2012

Putting a crystal of copper sulphate in solution so that it grows is not life.

From Nature ● Oct. 12, 2011

So far, the use of copper sulphate to kill the carrier snails has been ineffective.

From Time Magazine Archive

In 1800 Nicholson and Carlisle decomposed water by passing the electric current through the same; Ritter decomposed copper sulphate, and Davy decomposed the alkalies, potash and soda.

From Inventions in the Century by Doolittle, William Henry