Sulfuric Acid and Its Derivatives

It is appropriate that we begin our study of industrial chemicals with important inorganic compounds and then progress into organic chemicals and polymers. Many of these inorganic chemicals are used in processes to be described later for organics. Usually 19 of the top 50 chemicals are considered to be inorganic, although the exact figure is dependent on what you count. For instance, carbon dioxide, sodium carbonate, and carbon black are counted as inorganic even though they contain carbon, because their chemistry and uses resemble other inorganics more than organics.