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SULFUR
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Introduction Classification Description Physical Properties
Electron Configuration and Bonding Thermochemistry Video
Isotopes Reactions Abundance Compounds
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Introduction

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Atomic Number: 16 Group: 16 or VI A 16 32.065
Average Atomic Mass: 32.065 Period: 3

S
   

CAS Number:

 7704-34-9
      Sulfur
Classification

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Metal Nonmetal Metalloid    
Alkali Metal Alkali Earth Metal Transition Metal Chalcogen Halogen
Noble Gas Lanthanoid Actinoid

Rare Earth Metal

  
Transuranium No Stable Isotopes      
Solid Liquid Gas

Assumed Solid

  
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
Physical Properties

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Form: rhombic 2
Normal Melting Point: 95.3 °C = 368.45 K = 203.54 °F 2 Normal Boiling Point: 444.60 °C = 717.75 K = 832.28 °F 2
Sublimation Point: 1041 °C = 1314.15 K = 1905.8 °F 2 Triple Point:
Critical Point:
Form: monoclinic 2
Normal Melting Point: 119.6 °C = 392.75 K = 247.28 °F 2 Normal Boiling Point: 444.60 °C = 717.75 K = 832.28 °F 2
Sublimation Point: 1041 °C = 1314.15 K = 1905.8 °F 2 Triple Point:
Critical Point:
Density: 2.07 g/cm3 Crystal Structure: orthorhombic
Atomic Radius: 1.09 Ǻ = 109 pm Covalent Radius: 1.02 Ǻ = 102 pm
Ionic Radius: 0 Ǻ = 0 pm Atomic Volume: 15.5 cm3/mol
Qualitative Solubility: i (S8 beta form s org solv; alpha form s 95% eth, benzene) 3
Note: Unless otherwise stated, solubility is for water at 25 degrees Celsius.
Electron Configuration and Bonding

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Predicted Electron Configuration: [Ne] 3s2 3p4

Lewis Dot Diagram
Actual Electron Configuration: [Ne] 3s2 3p4  

x

x

  
Block: p

x

 S

x
Highest Occupied Energy Level: 3

x

Valence Electrons: 6  

x

  
Quantum Numbers: n = 3 ℓ = 1 mℓ = -1 ms = -½        
Please note that information in this section can be derived entirely from the periodic table.  Although most people do not discuss valence electrons of the d-block and f-block elements, on this page the number of electrons in the highest energy level of the actual electron configuration was used to determine valence electrons.
Electronegativity (Pauling): 2.58 Electropositivity (Pauling): 1.42
Electron Affinity: 2.08 eV = 200.69 kJ/mol = 47.97 kcal/mol Oxidation States: -2
Ionization Potential 4 eV kJ/mol Ionization Potential 4 eV 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
Note: Only the electronvolt values are given in the CRC Handbook, a conversion factor was used to find the kJ/mol value.
Thermochemistry

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Specific Heat: 0.71 J/g°C = 0.170 cal/g°C Thermal Conductivity: 0.269 (W/m)/K, 27ºC
Heat of Fusion: 1.7175 kJ/mol = 53.6 J/g Heat of Vaporization:
State of Matter Enthalpy of Formation Entropy of Formation Gibbs Free Energy
(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
Video

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Video on sulfur from the University of Nottingham's periodicvideos.com
The synthesis reaction between zinc and sulfur produces zinc sulfide.
Isotopes

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Nuclide Mass Half-Life Nuclear Spin Binding Energy (kJ/mol)
26S 26.02788(32)# 10# ms 0+ 16105866849.6735
27S 27.01883(22)# 15.5(15) ms (5/2+) 17694208929.76
28S 28.00437(17) 125(10) ms 0+ 19731957195.8572
29S 28.99661(5) 187(4) ms 5/2+ 21230418038.7417
30S 29.984903(3) 1.178(5) s 0+ 23088403830.4341
31S 30.9795547(16) 2.572(13) s 1/2+ 24317220961.7118
32S 31.97207100(15) STABLE 0+ 25725800567.3943
33S 32.97145876(15) STABLE 3/2+ 26595092749.8645
34S 33.96786690(12) STABLE 0+ 27734028643.9393
35S 34.96903216(11) 87.51(12) d 3/2+ 28333677114.8018
36S 35.96708076(20) STABLE 0+ 29292850534.4733
37S 36.97112557(21) 5.05(2) min 7/2- 29712736530.9324
38S 37.971163(8) 170.3(7) min 0+ 30492147476.2001
39S 38.97513(5) 11.5(5) s (3/2,5/2,7/2)- 30912033472.658
40S 39.97545(15) 8.8(22) s 0+ 31691444417.9249
41S 40.97958(13) 1.99(5) s (7/2-)# 32111330414.3835
42S 41.98102(13) 1.013(15) s 0+ 32710978885.2465
43S 42.98715(22) 260(15) ms 3/2-# 32951102407.3018
44S 43.99021(42) 100(1) ms 0+ 33460869640.9623
45S 44.99651(187) 68(2) ms 3/2-# 33700993163.0163
46S 46.00075(75)# 50(8) ms 0+ 34120879159.4748
47S 47.00859(86)# 20# ms [>200 ns] 3/2-# 34181240207.1255
48S 48.01417(97)# 10# ms [>200 ns] 0+ 34421363729.1801
49S 49.02362(102)# <200 ns 3/2-# 34391843539.6276
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. 5
Reactions

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When iron metal is heated in the presence of yellow, solid sulfur, the iron will begin to glow eventually yielding a bluish black solid chunk of iron (II) sulfide.
Tetrasulfur tetranitride can be prepared by the reaction of disulfur dichloride with ammonia in an environment of an inert solvent like carbon tetrachloride. Two byproducts are sulfur and ammonium chloride.
Tetrasulfur tetranitride can be prepared by the reaction of sulfur dichloride with ammonia in an environment of an inert solvent like carbon tetrachloride. Two byproducts are sulfur and ammonium chloride.
An introductory chemistry experiment involves the reaction of finely divided copper metal with sulfur to produce copper (II) sulfide.
Abundance

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Earth: Source Compounds: uncombined 6
Earth: Ocean Water: 905 mg/L 7
Earth: Crust: 350 mg/kg = 0.035% 7
Earth: Mantle: >2% 8
Earth: Lithosphere: 0.034% 9
Earth: Total: 2.92 % 10
Mercury: Total: 0.24% 10
Venus: Total: 1.62% 10
Universe: Total: 0.04% 8
Human Body: Total: 0.2% 11
Compounds

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2-Chloroethyl ethyl sulfide gold(I) sulfide scandium(III) sulfide
4-aminophenyl disulfide gold(III) sulfide selenium disulfide
4-nitrophenyl disulfide hafnium sulfide selenium hexasulfide
Allyl disulfide holmium sulfide selenium monosulfide
Allyl propyl disulfide hydrogen sulfide silicon sulfide
aluminum sulfide indium(II) sulfide silver sulfide
ammonium polysulfide indium(III) sulfide sodium bisulfide
ammonium sulfide iridium(III) sulfide sodium hydrosulfide
ammonium trisulfide iridium(IV) sulfide sodium hydrosulfide hydrate
antimony pentasulfide iron disulfide sodium sulfide
antimony trisulfide iron(II) sulfide sodium sulfide nonahydrate
arsenic disulfide lanthanum sulfide sodium sulfide pentahydrate
arsenic pentasulfide lead(II) sulfide strontium sulfide
arsenic tetrasulfide 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 tellurium disulfide
cobalt(II) sulfide palladium(IV) sulfide terbium(III) sulfide
cobalt(III) sulfide Phenyl disulfide tetraarsenic tetrasulfide
cobalt(IV) sulfide Phenyl sulfide thallium(I) sulfide
cobaltous sulfide phosphorus heptasulfide thorium(II) sulfide
copper(I) sulfide phosphorus hexasulfide thorium(III) sulfide
copper(II) sulfide phosphorus nonasulfide thorium(IV) sulfide
Deuterium sulfide phosphorus pentasulfide thulium(III) sulfide
Dibenzyl disulfide phosphorus tetrasulfide tin(II) sulfide
diboron trisulfide phosphorus trisulfide tin(IV) sulfide
Dibutyltin sulfide platinum(II) sulfide titanium(II) sulfide
Diethyl sulfide platinum(IV) sulfide titanium(III) sulfide
Dimethyl disulfide plutonium(II) sulfide titanium(III) sulfide
Dimethyl sulfide plutonium(IV) sulfide titanium(IV) sulfide
Di-tert-dodecyl polysulfide potassium sulfide Tris(aziridinyl)phosphine sulfide
dysprosium(III) sulfide praseodymium(II) sulfide tungsten(IV) sulfide
erbium(II) sulfide praseodymium(III) sulfide tungsten(VI) sulfide
erbium(III) sulfide Propylene sulfide uranium(II) sulfide
ethylene sulfide rhenium(IV) sulfide uranium(II) sulfide
europium(II) sulfide rhenium(VII) sulfide vanadium(III) sulfide
Ferric sulfide rhodium(III) sulfide vanadium(IV) sulfide
gadolinium(III) sulfide rhodium(IV) sulfide ytterbium(III) sulfide
gallium(II) sulfide rhodium(VII) sulfide yttrium(III) sulfide
gallium(III) sulfide rubidium sulfide zinc sulfide
germanium(II) sulfide ruthenium(IV) sulfide zirconium(IV) sulfide
germanium(IV) sulfide samarium(III) sulfide
Safety

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Note: Not every link below has an entry for every element on the periodic table.  Sites were selected based on those that had a large number of element and compound entries.
Scorecard's Pollution Information − not an MSDS, but it does provide basic information (among other things) on human heath hazards and industrial uses.
Although not truly an MSDS, Oxford University's Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory does provide some basic information.
Iowa State University
ESPI Metals
Languages

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Afrikaans: Swael Albanian: Sulfur Armenian: Ծծումբ Arabic: كبريت
Aromanian: Sulfure Basque: Sufrea Bosnian: Sumpor Breton: Sulfur or Soufr
Bulgarian: Сяра Byelorussian: 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 Friulian: Solfar Frisian: Swevel
Galician: Xofre Georgian: გოგირდი German: Schwefel Greek: Θειο
Hebrew: גופרית Hungarian: Kén Icelandic: Brennisteinn Irish Gaelic: Sulfar (lit. also: Grumastal, Grunnastal, Ruibh)
Italian: Zolfo Japanese: 硫黄 Kashubian: Sarka Kazakh: Күкірт
Korean: 황 Latvian: Sers Lithuanian: Siera Luxembourgish: Schwiewel
Macedonian: Сулфур Malay: Sulfur, Belerang Maltese: Kubrit Manx Gaelic: Sulfur
Mokshan: 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: Luu huy`nh Welsh: Sylffwr        
For More Information

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From Online Periodic Tables:
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
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) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 4-132.
(3) - Dean, John A. Lange's Handbook of Chemistry, 11th ed.; McGraw-Hill Book Company: New York, NY, 1973; p 4-8 - 4-149.
(4) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 10-178 - 10-180.
(5) - Atomic Mass Data Center. http://amdc.in2p3.fr/web/nubase_en.html (accessed July 14, 2009).
(6) - Silberberg, Martin S. Chemistry: The Molecular Nature of Matter and Change, 4th ed.; McGraw-Hill Higher Education: Boston, MA, 2006, p 965.
(7) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 14-17.
(8) - Silberberg, Martin S. Chemistry: The Molecular Nature of Matter and Change, 4th ed.; McGraw-Hill Higher Education: Boston, MA, 2006, p 962.
(9) - Silberberg, Martin S. Chemistry: The Molecular Nature of Matter and Change, 4th ed.; McGraw-Hill Higher Education: Boston, MA, 2006, p 964.
(10) - Morgan, John W. and Anders, Edward, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77, 6973-6977 (1980)
(11) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 7-17.

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Last update: Thursday, August 12, 2010