Periodic Table/Sulfur

← PCl →

16S32.0600 Da

Sulfur

Nonmetal·Period 3, Group 16·p-block

Yellow, nonmetallic element belonging to group 16 of the periodic table. It is an essential element in living organisms, needed in the amino acids cysteine and methionine, and hence in many proteins. Absorbed by plants from the soil as sulphate ion.

Gallery

James St. John, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Emission spectrum

Physical Propertiesmass · density · phase · crystal

Atomic Mass

32.0600Da

Density

2.0700g/cm³

Phase (STP)

Solid

Melting Point

—

Boiling Point

717.8K

Molar Heat

0.7080J/(mol·K)

Crystal Structure

ORC

Lattice Constant

10.470Å

Atomic Radiiatomic · covalent · van der Waals

Atomic (Empirical)

100.00pm

Covalent

103.00pm

Van der Waals

180.00pm

Electronic Propertieselectronegativity · ionization · affinity

Electron Configuration

[Ne] 3s2 3p4

Electron Shells

2, 8, 6

Electronegativity

2.58Pauling

Electron Affinity

2.1kJ/mol

1st Ionization Energy

10.4kJ/mol

Oxidation States

-2, -1, +1, +2, +4, +6

Orbital DiagramAufbau · Hund's rule · Pauli exclusion

↑↓

1s²

↑↓

2s²

↑↓

2p⁶

↑↓

3s²

↑↓

↑

3p⁴

Full: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p4Short: [Ne] 3s2 3p4

Ionization Energies (16 known)

Emission Spectrumvisible range · characteristic spectral lines

545

547

470

414

S emission

380nm750nm

469.5 nm(100%)414.0 nm(60%)545.4 nm(50%)547.4 nm(40%)

Abundanceby mass

🌍Earth's Crust

350.0 ppm

🌊Ocean

905.0 ppm

✨Universe

440.0 ppm

🧬Human Body

2.0‰

Log scale · ppm = parts per million by mass

Biological Role

Essential

Found in amino acids methionine and cysteine. Essential for protein structure via disulfide bonds.

Discovery

Discovered By

Known to the ancients.

Named By

—

Year

—

Nuclear Data

Known Isotopes

Stable Isotopes

Stable Mass Numbers

26, 32, 33, 34, 36

Natural isotopic abundance (IUPAC recommended values)

Isotopes of S24 known

Nuclide	Z	N	Mass (AMU)	Half-life	Decay	Jπ	Abundance
²⁶Sstable	16	10	26.029716	Stable	2p	0+	—
²⁷S	16	11	27.018777	16.3 ms	β⁺ (1%), β⁺p (0.61%), 2p (0.03%)	5/2+	—
²⁸S	16	12	28.004373	125 ms	β⁺ (1%), β⁺p (0.207%)	0+	—
³²Sstable	16	16	31.972071	Stable	stable (1%)	0+	9485.0000%
³³Sstable	16	17	32.971459	Stable	stable (1%)	3/2+	76.3000%
³⁴Sstable	16	18	33.967867	Stable	stable (1%)	0+	436.5000%
³⁶Sstable	16	20	35.967081	Stable	stable (1%)	0+	1.5800%
⁴⁷S	16	31	47.007730	Unknown	β⁻, β⁻n, 2n	3/2-	—
⁴⁸S	16	32	48.013301	Unknown	β⁻, β⁻n, 2n	0+	—
⁴⁹S	16	33	49.021891	Unknown	β⁻, β⁻n, 2n	1/2-	—