Question

How to write the electron configuration for Sulfur? (z=16)

Answer 1

Electronic configuration for Sulfur (S)

• The atomic number of Sulfur is 16.
• Sulfur belongs to group 16 of the Modern periodic table.
• In the periodic table, Sulfur is placed in the third period.
• For the electronic configuration of an element there are three important rules which must be followed:
  Aufbau Principle
  Pauli-exclusion Principle
  Hund's Rule.
• Aufbau Principle: By this principle, electrons are filled in lower-energy atomic orbitals before filling in the higher-energy orbitals.
• Pauli-exclusion Principle: By this principle, no two electrons in the same atom can have the same values for all four quantum numbers.
• Hund's Rule: By this principle, every orbital must be singly occupied with one electron before any one orbital is doubly occupied, and all electrons in singly occupied orbitals must have the same spin.
• By using the above three principles, the electronic configuration of Sulfur:
  S (16) = $1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{2}3p^4$

Hence, the electron configuration for Sulfur is $1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{2}3p^4$.