SULFUR (S) • Element 16 • Physical Properties/Chemical Properties • Description • Uses/Function • Isotopes • Thermochemistry • Reactions • Electron Configuration and Bonding • Video

SULFUR

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Introduction

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Atomic Number:	16	Group:	16 or VI A	16	32.065
Atomic Weight:	32.065	Period:	3	S
		CAS Number:	7704-34-9	S
				SULFUR

Classification

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Description

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Known to the ancients; referred to in Genesis as brimstone. Sulfur is found in meteorites. A dark area near the crater Aristarchus on the moon has been studied by R. W. Wood with ultraviolet light. This study suggests strongly that it is a sulfur deposit. Sulfur occurs native in the vicinity of volcanoes and hot springs. It is widely distributed in nature as iron pyrites, galena, sphalerite, cinnabar, stibnite, gypsum, Epsom salts, celestite, barite,etc. Sulfur is commercially recovered from wells sunk into the salt domes along the Gulf Coast of the U.S. It is obtained from these wells by the Frasch process, which forces heated water into the wells to melt the sulfur, which is then brought to the surface. Sulfur also occurs in natural gas and petroleum crudes and must be removed from these products. Formerly this was done chemically, which wasted the sulfur. New processes now permit recovery, and these sources promise to be very important. Large amounts of sulfur are being recovered from Alberta gas fields. Sulfur is a pale yellow, odorless, brittle solid, which is insoluble in water but soluble in carbon disulfide. In every state, whether gas, liquid or solid, elemental sulfur occurs in more than one allotropic form or modification; these present a confusing multitude of forms whose relations are not yet fully understood. Amorphous or “plastic” sulfur is obtained by fast cooling of the crystalline form. X-ray studies indicate that amorphous sulfur may have a helical structure with eight atoms per spiral. Crystalline sulfur seems to be made of rings, each containing eight sulfur atoms, which fit together to give a normal X-ray pattern. Seventeen isotopes of sulfur are now recognized. Four occur in natural sulfur, none of which is radioactive. A finely divided form of sulfur, known as flowers of sulfur, is obtained by sublimation. Sulfur readily forms sulfides with many elements. Sulfur is a component of black gunpowder, and is used in the vulcanization of natural rubber and a fungicide. It is also used extensively is making phosphatic fertilizers. A tremendous tonnage is used to produce sulfuric acid, the most important manufactured chemical. It is used in making sulfite paper and other papers, as a fumigant, and in the bleaching of dried fruits. The element is a good electrical insulator. Organic compounds containing sulfur are very important. Calcium sulfate, ammonium sulfate, carbon disulfide, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide are but a few of the many other important compounds of sulfur. Sulfur is essential to life. It is a minor constituent of fats, body fluids, and skeletal minerals. Carbon disulfide, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfur dioxide should be handled carefully. Hydrogen sulfide in small concentrations can be metabolized, but in higher concentrations it quickly can cause death by respiratory paralysis. It is insidious in that it quickly deadens the sense of smell. Sulfur dioxide is a dangerous component in atmospheric air pollution. In 1975, University of Pennsylvania scientists reported synthesis of polymeric sulfur nitride, which has the properties of a metal, although it contains no metal atoms. The material has unusual optical and electrical properties. High-purity sulfur is commercially available in purities of 99.999+%, at a cost of about $50/100 g. ¹

Uses/Function

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"used in the production of sulfuric acid, H₂SO₄, the most important of all industrial chemicals. Sulfur is used in the vulcanization of rubber and in the synthesis of many important sulfur-containing organic compounds." ²
"Free sulfur is used to vulcanize rubber to remove its tackiness and give it greater elasticity." ³

Physical Properties

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Form:⁴	rhombic
Melting Point:⁴*	95.3 °C = 368.45 K = 203.54 °F	Boiling Point:⁴*	444.60 °C = 717.75 K = 832.28 °F
Sublimation Point:⁴		Triple Point:⁴
Critical Point:⁴	1041 °C = 1314.15 K = 1905.8 °F ⁴

Form:⁴	monoclinic
Melting Point:⁴*	119.6 °C = 392.75 K = 247.28 °F	Boiling Point:⁴*	444.60 °C = 717.75 K = 832.28 °F
Sublimation Point:⁴		Triple Point:⁴
Critical Point:⁴	1041 °C = 1314.15 K = 1905.8 °F ⁴

Density:⁵	2.07 (all forms) g/cm³

* - at 1 atm

Electron Configuration and Bonding

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Electron Configuration:	[Ne] 3s² 3p⁴				Lewis Dot Diagram
						x	x
Block:	p				x	S		x
Highest Occupied Energy Level:	3				x	S
Valence Electrons:	6						x
Quantum Numbers:	n = 3	ℓ = 1	m_ℓ = -1	m_s = -½

The information in this section can be derived from the periodic table. Lewis dot diagrams and valence electrons are not useful for transition metals, lanthanides, and actinides. Only the valence electrons are shown for these elements. Quantum numbers are given for the final electron.

Electronegativity (Pauling scale):⁶		2.58		Electropositivity (Pauling scale):		1.42
Electron Affinity:⁷		2.077103 eV		Oxidation States:		-2

Ionization Potential	eV ⁸		kJ/mol	Ionization Potential	eV ⁸		kJ/mol
1	10.36001		999.6	9	379.55		36621.0
2	23.3379		2251.8	10	447.5		43177.2
3	34.79		3356.7	11	504.8		48705.8
4	47.222		4556.2	12	564.44		54460.2
5	72.5945		7004.3	13	652.2		62927.7
6	88.053		8495.8	14	707.01		68216.1
7	280.948		27107.4	15	3223.78		311047.4
8	328.75		31719.5	16	3494.1892		337137.9

Thermochemistry

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Specific Heat:		0.710 J/g°C ⁹ = 22.766 J/mol°C = 0.170 cal/g°C = 5.441 cal/mol°C
Thermal Conductivity:		0.269 (W/m)/K, 27ºC ¹⁰
Heat of Fusion:		1.7175 kJ/mol ¹¹ = 53.6 J/g
Heat of Vaporization:

State of Matter	Enthalpy of Formation¹²		Entropy¹²		Gibbs Free Energy¹²
	(kcal/mol)	(kJ/mol)	(cal/K)	(J/K)	(kcal/mol)	(kJ/mol)
(s rhombic)	0	0	7.63	31.92392	0	0
(ℓ)	0.34	1.42256	8.4	35.1456	0.09	0.37656
(g)	66.29	277.35736	40.09	167.73656	56.61	236.85624

Isotopes

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Nuclide	Mass ¹³	Half-Life ¹³	Nuclear Spin ¹³	Binding Energy
²⁶S	26.02788(32)#	10# ms	0+	166.94 MeV
²⁷S	27.01883(22)#	15.5(15) ms	(5/2+)	183.40 MeV
²⁸S	28.00437(17)	125(10) ms	0+	204.52 MeV
²⁹S	28.99661(5)	187(4) ms	5/2+	220.06 MeV
³⁰S	29.984903(3)	1.178(5) s	0+	239.31 MeV
³¹S	30.9795547(16)	2.572(13) s	1/2+	252.05 MeV
³²S	31.97207100(15)	STABLE	0+	266.65 MeV
³³S	32.97145876(15)	STABLE	3/2+	275.66 MeV
³⁴S	33.96786690(12)	STABLE	0+	287.47 MeV
³⁵S	34.96903216(11)	87.51(12) d	3/2+	293.68 MeV
³⁶S	35.96708076(20)	STABLE	0+	303.62 MeV
³⁷S	36.97112557(21)	5.05(2) min	7/2-	307.98 MeV
³⁸S	37.971163(8)	170.3(7) min	0+	316.06 MeV
³⁹S	38.97513(5)	11.5(5) s	(3/2,5/2,7/2)-	320.41 MeV
⁴⁰S	39.97545(15)	8.8(22) s	0+	328.49 MeV
⁴¹S	40.97958(13)	1.99(5) s	(7/2-)#	332.84 MeV
⁴²S	41.98102(13)	1.013(15) s	0+	339.05 MeV
⁴³S	42.98715(22)	260(15) ms	3/2-#	341.54 MeV
⁴⁴S	43.99021(42)	100(1) ms	0+	346.83 MeV
⁴⁵S	44.99651(187)	68(2) ms	3/2-#	349.32 MeV
⁴⁶S	46.00075(75)#	50(8) ms	0+	353.67 MeV
⁴⁷S	47.00859(86)#	20# ms [>200 ns]	3/2-#	354.29 MeV
⁴⁸S	48.01417(97)#	10# ms [>200 ns]	0+	356.78 MeV
⁴⁹S	49.02362(102)#	<200 ns	3/2-#	356.48 MeV
Values marked # are not purely derived from experimental data, but at least partly from systematic trends. Spins with weak assignment arguments are enclosed in parentheses. ¹³

Reactions

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Cl2 (g) + H2S (aq) → S (s) + 2 HCl (aq) ¹⁴
2 S (s) + 3 O2 (g) → 2 SO3 (g) ¹⁵
2 ZnS (s) + 2 H2SO4 (aq) + O2 (g) → 2 ZnSO4 (aq) + 2 S (s) + 2 H2O (ℓ) ¹⁶

Abundance

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Earth:	Source Compounds:	uncombined ¹⁷
Earth:	Seawater:	905 mg/L ¹⁸
Earth:	Crust:	350 mg/kg = 0.035% ¹⁸
Earth:	Mantle:	>2% ¹⁹
Earth:	Lithosphere:	0.034% ²⁰
Earth:	Total:	2.92 % ²¹
Mercury:	Total:	0.24% ²¹
Venus:	Total:	1.62% ²¹
Universe:	Total:	0.04% ¹⁹
Chondrites:	Total:	1.1×10⁵ (relative to 10⁶ atoms of Si) ²²
Human Body:	Total:	0.2% ²³

Compounds

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2-Chloroethyl ethyl sulfide	gold(III) sulfide	scandium(III) sulfide
4-aminophenyl disulfide	hafnium sulfide	selenium disulfide
4-nitrophenyl disulfide	holmium sulfide	selenium hexasulfide
Allyl disulfide	hydrogen sulfide	selenium monosulfide
Allyl propyl disulfide	indium(II) sulfide	silicon sulfide
aluminum sulfide	indium(III) sulfide	silver sulfide
ammonium polysulfide	iridium(III) sulfide	sodium bisulfide
ammonium sulfide	iridium(IV) sulfide	sodium hydrosulfide hydrate
ammonium trisulfide	iron disulfide	sodium sulfide
antimony pentasulfide	iron(II) sulfide	sodium sulfide nonahydrate
antimony trisulfide	lanthanum sulfide	sodium sulfide pentahydrate
arsenic disulfide	lead(II) sulfide	strontium sulfide
arsenic pentasulfide	lithium sulfide	sulfur dichloride
arsenic trisulfide	lutetium sulfide	sulfur difluoride
barium hyrdosulfide	magnesium sulfide	sulfur dioxide
barium sulfide	manganese disulfide	sulfur hexafluoride
Benzothiazolyl disulfide	manganese(II) sulfide	sulfur monoxide
benzyl sulfide	mercury(II) sulfide	sulfur tetrachloride
beryllium sulfide	Methylethyl sulfide	sulfur tetrafluoride
bis(di-(beta-chloroethyl)sulfide)palladous chloride	molybdenum(III) sulfide	sulfur trioxide
bismuth(III) sulfide	molybdenum(IV) sulfide	Sulfurated potash
butyl sulfide	neodymium(II) sulfide	sulfuric acid
cadmium sulfide	neodymium(III) sulfide	sulfuric acid-d2
calcium sulfide	neptunium(III) sulfide	sulfurous acid
carbon disulfide	nickel subsulfide	sulfuryl chloride*
carbonyl sulfide	nickel(II) sulfide	sulfuryl fluoride
cerium(II) sulfide	niobium(IV) sulfide	tantalum(II) sulfide
cerium(III) sulfide	Omeprazole sulfide	tantalum(IV) sulfide
cesium sulfide	osmium(IV) sulfide	technetium(IV) sulfide
chromium(III) sulfide	palladium(II) sulfide	terbium(III) sulfide
cobalt(II) sulfide	palladium(IV) sulfide	tetraarsenic tetrasulfide
cobalt(III) sulfide	Phenyl disulfide	thallium(I) sulfide
cobalt(IV) sulfide	phenyl sulfide	thorium(II) sulfide
copper(I) sulfide	phosphorus heptasulfide	thorium(III) sulfide
copper(II) sulfide	phosphorus hexasulfide	thorium(IV) sulfide
deuterium sulfide	phosphorus nonasulfide	thulium(III) sulfide
dibenzyl disulfide	phosphorus pentasulfide	tin(II) sulfide
diboron trisulfide	phosphorus tetrasulfide	tin(IV) sulfide
Dibutyltin sulfide	phosphorus trisulfide	titanium(II) sulfide
Diethyl sulfide	platinum(II) sulfide	titanium(III) sulfide
Dimethyl disulfide	platinum(IV) sulfide	titanium(III) sulfide
Dimethyl sulfide	plutonium(II) sulfide	titanium(IV) sulfide
Di-tert-dodecyl polysulfide	plutonium(IV) sulfide	Tris(aziridinyl)phosphine sulfide
dysprosium(III) sulfide	potassium sulfide	tungsten(IV) sulfide
erbium(III) sulfide	praseodymium(II) sulfide	tungsten(VI) sulfide
ethylene sulfide	praseodymium(III) sulfide	uranium(II) sulfide
europium(II) sulfide	Propylene sulfide	uranium(II) sulfide
Ferric sulfide	rhenium(IV) sulfide	vanadium(III) sulfide
gadolinium(III) sulfide	rhenium(VII) sulfide	vanadium(IV) sulfide
gallium(II) sulfide	rhodium(III) sulfide	ytterbium(III) sulfide
gallium(III) sulfide	rhodium(IV) sulfide	yttrium(III) sulfide
germanium(II) sulfide	rubidium sulfide	zinc sulfide
germanium(IV) sulfide	ruthenium(IV) sulfide	zirconium(IV) sulfide
gold(I) sulfide	samarium(III) sulfide

Material Safety Data Sheet

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ACI Alloys, Inc.

Languages

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Afrikaans:	Swael	Albanian:	Sulfur	Armenian:	Ծծումբ	Arabic:	كبريت
Aromanian:	Sulfure	Basque:	Sufrea	Bosnian:	Sumpor	Breton:	Sulfur
Bulgarian:	Сяра	Belarusian:	Сера	Catalan :	Sofre	Chinese :	硫
Cornish :	Sulfor	Croatian :	Sumpor	Czech :	Síra	Danish:	Svovl
Dutch:	Zwavel	Esperanto:	Sulfuro	Estonian:	Väävel	Faroese:	Svávul or Brennisteinur
Finnish:	Rikki	French:	Soufre	Friulan:	Solfar	Frisian:	Swevel
Galician:	Xofre	Georgian:	გოგირდი	German:	Schwefel	Greek:	Θειο
Hebrew:	גופרית	Hungarian:	Kén	Icelandic:	Brennisteinn	Irish Gaelic:	Sulfar
Italian:	Zolfo	Japanese:	硫黄	Kashubian:	Sarka	Kazakh:	Күкірт
Korean:	황	Latvian:	Sers	Lithuanian:	Siera	Luxembourgish:	Schwiewel
Macedonian:	Сулфур	Malay:	Belerang	Maltese :	Kubrit	Manx Gaelic:	Sulfur
Moksha:	Кандур	Mongolian:	Хүхэр	Norwegian:	Svovel	Occitan:	Sofre
Ossetian:	Сондон	Polish:	Siarka	Portuguese:	Enxofre	Russian:	Сера
Scottish Gaelic:	Sulfar	Serbian:	Сумпор	Slovak:	Síra	Spanish:	Azufre
Sudovian:	Siera	Swahili:	Sulfuri	Swedish:	Svavel	Tajik:	Sulfur
Thai:	กำมะถัน	Turkish:	Kükürt	Ukranian:	Сірка	Uzbek:	Олтингугурт
Vietnamese:	Lưu huỳnh	Welsh:	Sylffwr

For More Information

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External Links:
About.com	American Elements
Chemical & Engineering News	Chemical Elements
ChemGlobe	Chemicool
Environmental Chemistry	Eni Generalic
HyperPhysics from Georgia State University's Department of Physics and Astronomy	InfoPlease
Lenntech	Los Alamos National Laboratory
Physics Department of the University of Coimbra	Qivx Inc.
Royal Society of Chemistry's Visual Elements	Schenectady County Community College
Thomas Jefferson Lab National Accelerator Facility	WebElements
Wikipedia	X-ray properties: Carlo Segre from Illinois Institute of Technology
Journals:
(1) D. W. Johnson, Biogeochemistry 1, 29-43 (1984)

Sources

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(1) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 4:30.

(2) - Whitten, Kenneth W., Davis, Raymond E., and Peck, M. Larry. General Chemistry 6th ed.; Saunders College Publishing: Orlando, FL, 2000; p 952.

(3) - Ebbing, Darrell D. General Chemistry 3rd ed.; Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston, MA, 1990; p 305.

(4) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 4:132.

(5) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 84th ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 4:39-4:96.

(6) - Dean, John A. Lange's Handbook of Chemistry, 11th ed.; McGraw-Hill Book Company: New York, NY, 1973; p 4:8-4:149.

(7) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 84th ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 10:147-10:148.

(8) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 10:178 - 10:180.

(9) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 4:133.

(10) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; pp 6:193, 12:219-220.

(11) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; pp 6:123-6:137.

(12) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; pp 6:107-6:122.

(13) - Dean, John A. Lange's Handbook of Chemistry, 12th ed.; McGraw-Hill Book Company: New York, NY, 1979; p 9:4-9:94.

(14) - Atomic Mass Data Center. http://amdc.in2p3.fr/web/nubase_en.html (accessed July 14, 2009).

(15) - Swaddle, T.W. Inorganic Chemistry; Academic Press: San Diego, 1997; p 279.

(16) - Ebbing, Darrell D. General Chemistry 3rd ed.; Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston, MA, 1990; p 205.

(17) - Swaddle, T.W. Inorganic Chemistry; Academic Press: San Diego, 1997; p 360.

(18) - Silberberg, Martin S. Chemistry: The Molecular Nature of Matter and Change, 4th ed.; McGraw-Hill Higher Education: Boston, MA, 2006, p 965.

(19) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 14:17.

(20) - Silberberg, Martin S. Chemistry: The Molecular Nature of Matter and Change, 4th ed.; McGraw-Hill Higher Education: Boston, MA, 2006, p 962.

(21) - Silberberg, Martin S. Chemistry: The Molecular Nature of Matter and Change, 4th ed.; McGraw-Hill Higher Education: Boston, MA, 2006, p 964.

(22) - Morgan, John W. and Anders, Edward, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77, 6973-6977 (1980)

(23) - Brownlow, Arthur. Geochemistry; Prentice-Hall, Inc.: Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1979, pp 15-16.

(24) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 7:17.

Comments

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SULFUR

Periodic Table

Metal	Nonmetal	Metalloid
Alkali Metal	Alkali Earth Metal	Transition Metal	Chalcogen	Halogen
Noble Gas	Lanthanoid	Actinoid	Rare Earth Metal	Platinum Group Metal
Transuranium	No Stable Isotopes
Solid	Liquid	Gas	Solid (Predicted)

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