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 Potassium bisulfate Potassium bisulfate, is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula KHSO and is the potassium acid salt of sulfuric acid. Mercallite, the mineralogical form of potassium bisulfate, occurs very rarely. Misenite is another, more complex, form of potassium bisulfate. Potassium bisulfate is prepared by neutralizing sulfuric acid with an equal molar amount of a potassium containing base, for example potassium hydroxide: Potassium bisulfate is also formed by the union of sulfuric acid with potassium sulfate: Potassium bisulfate is also the main by-product in the production of nitric acid from potassium nitrate and sulfuric acid: Thermal decomposition of potassium