Potassium in 1809, Ludwig Wilhelm Gilbert proposed the name "Kalium" for Davy's "potassium". In 1814, the Swedish chemist Berzelius advocated the name "kalium" for potassium, with the chemical symbol "K". The English and French speaking countries adopted Davy and Gay-Lussac/Thénard's name Potassium, while the Germanic countries adopted Gilbert/Klaproth's name Kalium. The "Gold Book" of the International Union of Physical and Applied Chemistry has designated the official chemical symbol as K. Potassium is the second least dense metal after lithium. It is a soft solid with a low melting point, and can be easily cut with a knife. Freshly cut potassium is
Potassium bisulfate bisulfate forms potassium pyrosulfate and water: Temperatures above 600 °C further decompose potassium bisulfate to potassium sulfate and sulfur trioxide: Aqueous solutions of potassium bisulfate behave as two separate, uncombined compounds, KSO and HSO. Adding ethanol to the solution precipitates out potassium sulfate. Potassium bisulfate is commonly used to prepare potassium bitartrate for winemaking. Potassium bisulfate is also used as a disintegrating agent in analytical chemistry or as a precursor to prepare potassium persulfate, a powerful oxidizing agent. Potassium bisulfate Potassium bisulfate, is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula KHSO and is the potassium acid salt of sulfuric acid.