Sulfur

Sulfur is a chemical element with an atomic number of 16. Sulfur is the fifth-most abundant element on Earth. Sulfur can be easily found in soil, plants, foods, and water. It is also found in proteins in the form of amino acids. Sulfur is also well known for its antifungal and antibacterial activity.

This article deals with sulfur element in detail learning about its properties, reactions, uses and other interesting facts about sulphur.

Symbol	S
Atomic Number	16
Atomic Mass	32.06
Valency	2

What is Sulfur?

Sulfur is a non-metal element that is found abundantly on Earth. Sulfur belongs to the oxygen group, i.e 16 group of the periodic table. Sulfur occurs in a bright yellow colour. It has a very bad odor, like rotten eggs. At room temperature, sulfur is a crystalline solid. Sulfur makes more than 30 allotropes, which is more than any other element. The compounds of sulfur are very essential for human life as well as for plants.

Sulfur Symbol

The atomic symbol for the sulfur element is shown below:

Sulfur Element Data

The data of sulfur element is tabulated below:

Subjects	Details
Group ( In periodic table)	16
Period ( In periodic table)	3
Block	p
Valency	2
Oxidation States	-2, +2, +4, +6
Electron configuration	[Ne] 3s2 3p4
Electrons per shell	2, 8, 6
Atomic number	16
Atomic Mass	32.06
Melting point	97.794°C, 208.029°F, 370.944 K
Boiling point	882.940°C, 1621.292°F, 1156.090 K
Density (gcm−3)	0.97
State at 20°C	Solid
Critical point	1314 K, 20.7 MPa
Molar heat capacity	22.75 J/(mol·K)
Covalent radius	105±3 pm
Van der Waals radius	180 pm
Natural occurrence	primordial
Key isotopes	33S, 34S
Color	bright yellow
Odour	no odour of pure sulfur but its components odour is bad odour (like rotten eggs).
Group Name	Chalcogen
Element Classification	Non – metal

Properties of Sulfur

We can study the properties of sulfur by classifying them in two categories. These are:

• Physical Properties of Sulfur
• Chemical Properties of Sulfur

Physical Properties of Sulfur

Sulfur has several physical properties. These physical properties are given below –

• Atomic mass of sulfur is 32.06 amu.
• Sulfur is insoluble in water.
• Sulfur forms many allotropes, but the most well known allotrope is cyclo octasulfur – S₈.
• Octasulfur is soft, odourless and bright yellow solid type in pure form. But impure components have bad odor.
• Sulfur is a non – metallic element.
• Its color is pale yellow type.
• Its tasteless.
• Sulfur is poor conductor of heat and electricity.

Chemical Properties of Sulfur

The chemical properties of sulfur are mentioned below:

• Sulfur reacts with mostly all elements except gold, platinum, nitrogen, iodine and noble gases.
• Sulfur insoluble in water but it is soluble in benzene, toluene, carbon disulfide.
• Sulfur generally found in pale yellow colour but when it is burnt at around 200℃, it becomes red blue colour because of the formation of sulfur dioxide.
• Ionization energies of sulfur are 999.6 kJ.mol^-1 ,2252 kJ.mol^-1 ,4556 kJ.mol^-1.
• The electron affinity of sulfur is 200 kJ mol^-1 and the electronegativity of sulfur is 2.58.

Uses of Sulfur

The uses of sulfur are mentioned below:

• Sulfur is popularly used to make sulfuric acid that has very high demand in industries.
• Sulfur is used in batteries.
• Sulfur is used to making matches, cement, glass, many explosive things.
• Sulfur is very essential for human body and it plays an important role for the synthesis of some essential proteins. Sulfur helps the glutathione synthesis, that acts as a potent antioxidant to protect our cells from damage.
• For our body, sulfur supplements are very essential.
• Sulfur supplements play a crucial role for the treatment of Osteoarthritis.
• To produce DNA and repair it, sulfur is used.
• Sulfur is used to make fertilizers , pesticides, fungicides, and detergents etc.

Compounds of Sulfur

There are many compounds of Sulfur available. The important names of compounds of Sulfur along with their chemical formula is presented in the tabular form.

Compound Name	Chemical Formula	Properties
Hydrogen sulphide	H2S	It is colourless It is Chalcogen-hydride gas It is hazardous to humans as well as animals It is poisonous, explosive and flammable
Dimethyl sulphide	(CH3)2S	It is flammable type liquid and its boiling temperature is 37 °C or 99 °F It is used as an indication of bacterial contamination in malt production and brewing. It is highly disagreeable at low concentration
Dimethyl disulfide	CH₃SSCH₃	It is oily liquid type It’s odour is garlic type The density of Dimethyl disulfide is more than water The vapours of Dimethyl disulfide are heavier than air Purely it is colorless but impure components color is yellowish type. It is flammable type liquid.
Sulphur dioxide	SO₂	Odor of the component is burnt matches type It is heavy, colorless and deadly type gas. It found in warm spring waters and volcanic gases.
Sulphuric acid	H₂SO₄	It is colourless, odorless acid. It is well known as “Oil of vitriol” It is the composition of sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen

Facts About Sulfur

The important facts related to sulfur are as follows –

• Sulfur is the fifth most abundant element that is found on Earth.
• Sulfur was known and used from the ancient times in many countries such as ancient Greek, China, Egypt , ancient India etc.
• Brimstone is the another name of Sulfur. The meaning of the word “Brimstone” is burning stone.
• Pure sulfur has no odor and no taste. But the impure components of sulfur such as mercaptans, have very bad odor ( smell likes rotten eggs).
• A toxic gas, sulfur dioxide is formed after burning the sulfur.
• It has very high demand in industries for making sulfuric acid.
• It has 23 known isotopes.

Sulfur Frequently Asked Questions

What is sulfur used for?

Sulfur is generally used for making car batteries, mineral extractions, sulfuric acid. Sulfur is an essential element for our human body. It is used to make fertilizers, detergents, cement, glass, fungicides etc.

Why is sulfur poisonous?

Sulfur is poisonous because of it’s toxicity volatility. Sulfur dioxide, a component of sulfur is very dangerous for human as well as plants.

What colour is sulfur?

Sulfur generally found in pale yellow colour. In pure form, it is odorless and tasteless.

Where is sulfur found?

Sulfur found very easily in nature. Sulfur found in foods, plants, soils etc. We can find sulfur from some proteins.

Is sulfur a gas?

Sulfur is a non metallic element. At room temperature, Sulfur is solid crystalline.