Chemical element · Atomic number 16
Sulfur
Sulfur in the periodic table: atomic number 16, electron configuration, atomic mass, physical data, oxidation states, media credit and visible sources.
Nonmetal
solid
32.07 u
Documented element sampleA sample of elemental sulfur in its characteristic yellow appearance.
Image credit: Ben Mills
Auto-oriented, limited to 1600 × 1200 pixels and re-encoded as WebP; the subject was not altered.
Atomic classification
Shell occupancy
Sulfur in the Bohr shell model
This shows the electron distribution of the neutral atom in a simplified shell model.
- K · n=1
- 2 electrons
- L · n=2
- 8 electrons
- M · n=3
- 6 electrons
- Electron configuration
- [Ne]3s2 3p4
- Electrons per shell
- 2 · 8 · 6
- Group
- 16
- Period
- 3
- Block
- P
- Element category
- Nonmetal
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Physical and chemical properties
- Atomic mass
- 32.07 u
- Standard state
- solid
- Density
- 2.067 g/cm³
- Melting point
- 388.36 K
- Boiling point
- 717.75 K
- Electronegativity
- 2.58 (Pauling)
- First ionisation energy
- 10.36 eV
- Oxidation states
- +6, +4, -2
- Discovery
- known since antiquity
Safety and periodic classification
Safety
Safe handling cannot be inferred from Sulfur's position in the periodic table alone. Laboratory, classroom and disposal decisions must follow the documentation for the exact material and its safety data sheet.
Position and comparison
Sulfur is in period 3, group 16 and the P block. Its direct neighbours by atomic number are Phosphorus and Chlorine. The recorded Pauling electronegativity is 2.58. Periodic trends are compared only through the separately sourced neighbouring values.
Sources and scope
PubChem attributes element data to sources including IUPAC, NIST and IAEA. Quanta stores the referenced snapshot locally and leaves unknown values unavailable.