Potassium tree leaves, adding water, heating, and evaporating the solution. When Humphry Davy first isolated the pure element using electrolysis in 1807, he named it "potassium", which he derived from the word potash. The symbol "K" stems from "kali", itself from the root word "alkali", which in turn comes from "" "al-qalyah" "plant ashes." In 1797, the German chemist Martin Klaproth discovered "potash" in the minerals leucite and lepidolite, and realized that "potash" was not a product of plant growth but actually contained a new element, which he proposed to call "kali". In 1807, Humphry Davy produced the element via electrolysis:
Potassium pyrosulfate OSOSO. The oxidation state of sulfur in this compound is +6. Potassium pyrosulfate is used in analytical chemistry; samples are fused with potassium pyrosulfate, (or a mixture of potassium pyrosulfate and potassium fluoride) to ensure complete dissolution prior to a quantitative analysis. The compound is also present in a catalyst in conjunction with vanadium(V) oxide in the industrial production of sulfur trioxide. Potassium pyrosulfate Potassium pyrosulfate, or potassium disulfate, is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula KSO. Potassium pyrosulfate is obtained by the thermal decomposition of other salts, most directly from potassium bisulfate: Temperatures above 600°C further decompose potassium