Calcium sulfate is a common laboratory and industrial chemical. In the form of γ-anhydrite

Anhydrite

Anhydrite is a mineral – anhydrous calcium sulfate, CaSO4. It is in the orthorhombic crystal system, with three directions of perfect cleavage parallel to the three planes of symmetry. It is not isomorphous with the orthorhombic barium and strontium sulfates, as might be expected from the...

 (the nearly anhydrous

Anhydrous

As a general term, a substance is said to be anhydrous if it contains no water. The way of achieving the anhydrous form differs from one substance to another...

 form), it is used as a desiccant

Desiccant

A desiccant is a hygroscopic substance that induces or sustains a state of dryness in its local vicinity in a moderately well-sealed container....

. It is also used as a coagulant

Flocculation

Flocculation, in the field of chemistry, is a process wherein colloids come out of suspension in the form of floc or flakes by the addition of a clarifying agent. The action differs from precipitation in that, prior to flocculation, colloids are merely suspended in a liquid and not actually...

 in products like tofu

Tofu

is a food made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into soft white blocks. It is part of East Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Vietnamese, and others. There are many different varieties of tofu, including fresh tofu and tofu...

. In the natural state, unrefined calcium sulfate is a translucent, crystalline white rock. When sold as a color-indicating variant under the name Drierite

Drierite

Drierite is the brand name and registered trademark of a variety of desiccants made from anhydrous calcium sulfate . Some varieties contain 3% cobalt chloride, a moisture-sensitive color indicator that shows when that material's activity has been depleted. Drierite is manufactured in the USA by the...

, it appears blue or pink due to impregnation with Cobalt(II) chloride

Cobalt(II) chloride

Cobalt chloride is an inorganic compound of cobalt and chloride, with the formula CoCl2. It is usually supplied as the hexahydrate CoCl2·6H2O, which is one of the most commonly used cobalt compounds in the laboratory. The hexahydrate is deep purple in color, whereas the anhydrous form is sky blue...

, which functions as a moisture indicator.