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Glite Dictionary
fulminic acid

fulminic acid

9.9
An unstable acid that usually forms explosive salts and other dangerous chemicals
  • noun
  • /ˈfʌlmɪnɪk ˈæsɪd/
  • Specialized
: ácido fulmínico
  • Because of its instability, fulminic acid is rarely handled in its pure form.

Examples

  • Researchers study the explosive properties of fulminic acid and its salts.

  • Fulminic acid is isomeric with cyanic acid, which has different chemical properties.

  • The chemist studied fulminic acid for its explosive properties.

  • Many researchers are interested in fulminic acids for their potential applications.

  • Fulminic acid is rarely found in nature due to its highly unstable and explosive nature.

  • The dangerous characteristics of fulminic acid require specialized equipment for safe handling.

  • Chemists are particularly interested in the explosive salts derived from fulminic acid.

Surface Forms

fulminic acid singular
fulminic acids plural

Morphology

fulminic + acid

Although 'acid' is transparent, 'fulminic' is a highly specialized, technical lexical item (not found in the simple-word entry) and does not convey a predictable everyday meaning to a B1 learner. The compound denotes a specific, technical chemical species whose meaning (unstable, explosive acid related to fulminates) cannot be derived from its parts by an average learner, so it is effectively idiomatic/specialized and opaque.

Etymology

The name fulminic acid comes from the Latin word 'fulmen', which means 'lightning'. The word fulminic uses that 'lightning' image because its salts and esters can explode suddenly, so the name reminds you the acid is 'unstable' and 'explosive'.