sulfide, chemical compound containing sulfur and one other element or sulfur and a radical. Sulfides may be salts or esters of hydrogen sulfide, H₂S, or may be formed directly, e.g., by heating a metal with sulfur. Hydrosulfides are formed when only one of the hydrogens in hydrogen sulfide is replaced with a metal or radical. Soluble metal sulfides are used in preparing dyes, in leather tanning, as depilatory compounds, and as pesticides. Sulfides of antimony, copper, lead, mercury, silver, and zinc are important as ores; the ores are often roasted, yielding sulfur dioxide and an oxide of the metal. Pyrite is iron disulfide; tarnish on silver is mostly silver sulfide. In chemical analysis, hydrogen sulfide is often used to precipitate from a solution of metal salts certain metal sulfides that have characteristic colors and solubilities. Carbon disulfide is an important solvent for organic compounds.

hydrogen sulfide, chemical compound, H₂S, a colorless, extremely poisonous gas that has a very disagreeable odor, much like that of rotten eggs. It is slightly soluble in water and is soluble in carbon disulfide. Dissolved in water, it forms a very weak dibasic acid that is sometimes called hydrosulfuric acid. Hydrogen sulfide is flammable; in an excess of air it burns to form sulfur dioxide and water, but if not enough oxygen is present, it forms elemental sulfur and water. Hydrogen sulfide is found naturally in volcanic gases and in some mineral waters. It is often formed during decay of animal matter. It is a part of many unrefined carbonaceous fuels, e.g., natural gas, crude oil, and coal; it is obtained as a byproduct of refining such fuels. It may be made by reacting hydrogen gas with molten sulfur or with sulfur vapors, or by treating a metal sulfide (e.g., ferrous sulfide, FeS) with an acid. Hydrogen sulfide reacts with most metal ions to form sulfides; the sulfides of some metals are insoluble in water and have characteristic colors that help to identify the metal during chemical analysis. Hydrogen sulfide also reacts directly with silver metal, forming a dull, gray-black tarnish of silver sulfide (Ag₂S).

or sulphide mineral

Any member of a group of compounds of sulfur with one or more metals. The metals that occur most commonly are iron, copper, nickel, lead, cobalt, silver, and zinc. They are the ore minerals of most metals used by industry (e.g., antimony, bismuth, copper, lead, nickel, and zinc). Other industrially important metals such as cadmium and selenium occur in trace amounts in numerous common sulfides and are recovered in refining processes.

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Any of three classes of chemical compounds containing the element sulfur. The three classes of sulfides include inorganic sulfides, organic sulfides (thioethers), and phosphine sulfides. Sulfides of many metals are naturally occurring minerals; for example, pyrite (fool's gold) is a sulfide of iron, FeS₂. Sulfides are important components of lithium and sodium sulfide batteries, and phosphorous sulfides are used in the tips of strike-anywhere matches and in the preparation of industrial lubricant additives.

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