What product results from treating phosphate rock with sulfuric acid?

Treating phosphate rock with sulfuric acid produces single superphosphate. This process involves the reaction of phosphate rock, which mainly consists of calcium phosphate, with sulfuric acid. The reaction releases phosphoric acid and forms calcium sulfate as a byproduct. The resulting material contains a significant amount of soluble phosphate, which is readily available for plant uptake, making it an effective fertilizer.

Single superphosphate's solubility in water enhances its efficiency as a fertilizer, enabling crops to benefit from the phosphorus more readily than from other forms of phosphate. This makes it suitable for improving soil fertility and crop yields.

In this context, other options like calcium nitrate, triple superphosphate, and ammonium sulfate are not the products formed from this specific reaction and involve different chemical processes or raw materials. For instance, triple superphosphate is produced using phosphoric acid and phosphate rock rather than sulfuric acid directly.