Question

What is the valency of sulphur?

Answer 1

Valency:

• An element’s combining capacity is known as its valency.
• The valency of the element represents the number of bonds that an atom can form as part of a compound.

How to find the valency of an element:

• The valency of an element depends on the electrons present in the outermost shell, that is, valence electrons.
• An element always tries to attain stability by gaining or losing electrons to obtain the octet (8 electrons in the outermost shell). So the number of valence electrons can vary from 1 to 8.
• If the valence electrons of the element vary from 1 to 4. Then, the valence of electrons itself is their valency.
• If the valence electrons are more than 4, subtract the number of valence electrons from the 8 (octet).

Valency of sulphur

• The atomic number of sulphur is 16. The electronic configuration of sulphur is $1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{2}3p^4$.
• The valence electrons of sulphur are six. Thus, sulphur needs 2 more electrons to achieve the octet.
• Therefore, the valency of sulphur is 2.