Sulfur (S)

Element 16 · reactive nonmetal · group 16, period 3

Electron shells, 2 + 8 + 6. The outer shell is highlighted - it is the only one that takes part in bonding.

Sulfur is element 16, a reactive nonmetal in group 16 and period 3. Its electron configuration is [Ne] 3s2 3p4. That leaves 6 valence electrons in the outer shell, with the shells filling 2, 8, 6. It is 2 electrons short of a full octet, so it gains them and carries a charge of -2.

16 protons
6 valence e−
-2
p-block

Properties

Atomic number	16
Symbol	S
Standard atomic weight	32.06 u
Group	16
Period	3
Block	p-block
Category	reactive nonmetal
Electron configuration	1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁴
Noble-gas notation	[Ne] 3s² 3p⁴
Electrons per shell	2, 8, 6
Valence electrons	6
Common ionic charge	-2
Electronegativity (Pauling)	2.58
Protons / electrons	16 / 16

Electron configuration of sulfur

Orbitals fill from the lowest energy upward. Writing that out for sulfur gives 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁴, which is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p4 in plain text.

Everything up to Ne is the same as in that noble gas, so it is usually abbreviated to [Ne] 3s² 3p⁴. The part outside the bracket is what does the chemistry.

Subshell	Electrons	Capacity
1s	2	2
2s	2	2
2p	6	6
3s	2	2
3p	4	6

Sulfur ion charge

Sulfur commonly forms ions with a charge of -2.

It has 6 valence electrons, so it is 2 short of a full octet and 6 above an empty outer shell. An atom takes whichever route is shorter, which is why the charge comes out as it does.

Common questions

How many valence electrons does sulfur have?

Sulfur has 6 valence electrons. For a main-group element the count is the group number minus 10, and sulfur is in group 16.

What is the electron configuration of sulfur?

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p4, or [Ne] 3s2 3p4 written from the previous noble gas. Orbitals fill lowest energy first.

What is the charge of sulfur?

Sulfur commonly forms ions with a charge of -2. With 6 valence electrons it is 2 short of an octet and 6 above an empty shell, so it takes whichever route is shorter.

How many protons, electrons and neutrons does sulfur have?

A neutral sulfur atom has 16 protons and 16 electrons. Its standard atomic weight is 32.06, so the most common isotope has about 16 neutrons.

See the ionic charge of every element →

How this page was produced. The configuration was built by filling orbitals in energy order from atomic number 16 alone, not looked up. The shell counts, the valence count and the charge all follow from it. Nothing on this page is written per element.