Atomic number 16
Sulfur
Nonmetal
Quick facts
- Atomic mass
- 32.060
- Group
- 16
- Period
- 3
- State (STP)
- solid
- Electronegativity
- 2.58
- Common ox. states
- -2, +4, +6
Properties
Electron configuration
[Ne] 3s² 3p⁴
- Ionization energy
- 999.6 kJ/mol
- Electron affinity
- 200.0 kJ/mol
- Melting point
- 388.36 K (115.2 °C)
- Boiling point
- 717.80 K (444.6 °C)
How it bonds
Sulfur sits below oxygen and starts the same — 2 bonds, 2 lone pairs (H₂S). But sulfur has access to 3d orbitals, so it routinely expands its octet: 4 bonds in SO₂, 6 bonds in SF₆ and H₂SO₄. Sulfur also chains: S₈ rings are the form you find in elemental yellow sulfur.