Sulfur forms how many covalent bonds

Cyclic molecules that contain 6, 7, 8, 10, and 12 sulfur atoms are known. Sulfur melts at If this liquid is heated to o C, it turns into a dark red liquid that cannot be poured from its container. The viscosity of this dark red liquid is times greater than that of molten sulfur because the cyclic S 8 molecules open up and link together to form long chains of as many as , sulfur atoms. This is not the only product that can be obtained, however. A variety of polysulfide ions with a charge of -2 can be produced that differ in the number of sulfur atoms in the chain.

Because sulfur is much less electronegative than oxygen, it is more likely to form compounds in which it has a positive oxidation number see table below.

In theory, sulfur can react with oxygen to form either SO 2 or SO 3 , whose Lewis structures are given in the figure below. In practice, combustion of sulfur compounds gives SO 2 , regardless of whether sulfur or a compound of sulfur is burned. Although the SO 2 formed in these reactions should react with O 2 to form SO 3 , the rate of this reaction is very slow.

The rate of the conversion of SO 2 into SO 3 can be greatly increased by adding an appropriate catalyst. Enormous quantities of SO 2 are produced by industry each year and then converted to SO 3 , which can be used to produce sulfuric acid, H 2 SO 4. In theory, sulfuric acid can be made by dissolving SO 3 gas in water. In practice, this is not convenient. Sulfuric acid is by far the most important industrial chemical.

It has even been argued that there is a direct relationship between the amount of sulfuric acid a country consumes and its standard of living. The rest is used to make paper, synthetic fibers and textiles, insecticides, detergents, feed additives, dyes, drugs, antifreeze, paints and enamels, linoleum, synthetic rubber, printing inks, cellophane, photographic film, explosives, automobile batteries, and metals such as magnesium, aluminum, iron, and steel.

Sulfuric acid dissociates in water to give the HSO 4 - ion, which is known as the hydrogen sulfate, or bisulfate, ion. Sulfuric acid and sulfurous acid are both examples of a class of compounds known as oxyacids , because they are literally acids that contain oxygen. Because they are negative ions or anions that contain oxygen, the SO 3 2- and SO 4 2- ions are known as oxyanions. The Lewis structures of some of the oxides of sulfur that form oxyacids or oxyanions are given in the table below.

One of these oxyanions deserves special mention. This ion, which is known as the thiosulfate ion, is formed by the reaction between sulfur and the sulfite SO 3 2- ion. Although this notation shows the similarity between the configurations of the two elements, it hides an important difference that allows sulfur to expand its valence shell to hold more than eight electrons. The reaction stops at this point because oxygen can hold only eight electrons in its valence shell, as shown in the figure below.

Sulfur reacts with fluorine to form SF 4 and SF 6 , shown in the figure below, because sulfur can expand its valence shell to hold 10 or even 12 electrons. If you've found an issue with this question, please let us know. With the help of the community we can continue to improve our educational resources. If Varsity Tutors takes action in response to an Infringement Notice, it will make a good faith attempt to contact the party that made such content available by means of the most recent email address, if any, provided by such party to Varsity Tutors.

Your Infringement Notice may be forwarded to the party that made the content available or to third parties such as ChillingEffects. Thus, if you are not sure content located on or linked-to by the Website infringes your copyright, you should consider first contacting an attorney. Hanley Rd, Suite St. Louis, MO Subject optional.

Email address: Your name:. Example Question 1 : Covalent Bonding. Which statement best characterizes a covalent bond? Possible Answers: Sharing electrons between atoms.

Electrical conduction. Electron sea. Correct answer: Sharing electrons between atoms. Explanation : To achieve an octet of valence electrons, atoms can share electrons so that all atoms participating in the bond will have full valence shells. Report an Error. Here the sulfur atom has six electron pairs in its valence shell. An atom like phosphorus or sulfur which has more than an octet is said to have expanded its valence shell. This can only occur when the valence shell has enough orbitals to accommodate the extra electrons.

An octet would be 3s23p6. When atoms join together by sharing electrons we say that they have formed a molecular or covalent bond and that the atoms are now a molecule. Because its outer shell is not full, a single atom of sulfur can make a molecular bond with each of the two hydrogen atoms, resulting in a single molecule of hydrogen sulfide. These four electrons can be gained by forming four covalent bonds , as illustrated here for carbon in CH 4 methane.

Group 5A 15 elements such as nitrogen have five valence electrons in the atomic Lewis symbol: one lone pair and three unpaired electrons. To obtain an octet, these atoms form three covalent bonds , as in NH 3 ammonia. Oxygen and other atoms in group 6A 16 obtain an octet by forming two covalent bonds. Fluorine and the other halogens in group 7A 17 have seven valence electrons and can obtain an octet by forming one covalent bond.

Typically, the atoms of group 4A form 4 covalent bonds; group 5A form 3 bonds; group 6A form 2 bonds; and group 7A form one bond. The number of electrons required to obtain an octet determines the number of covalent bonds an atom can form. This is summarized in the table below. In each case, the sum of the number of bonds and the number of lone pairs is 4, which is equivalent to eight octet electrons.

Because hydrogen only needs two electrons to fill its valence shell, it follows the duet rule. It is an exception to the octet rule. Hydrogen only needs to form one bond. This is the reason why H is always a terminal atom and never a central atom. The transition elements and inner transition elements also do not follow the octet rule since they have d and f electrons involved in their valence shells.

In molecules, there is a pattern to the number of covalent bonds that different atoms can form. Each block with a number indicates the number of covalent bonds formed by that atom in neutral compounds. Examine the Lewis structure of OF 2 below. Count the number of bonds formed by each element.

Based on the element's location in the periodic table, does it correspond to the expected number of bonds shown in Table 4. Does the Lewis structure below follow the octet rule? F group 7A forms one bond and O group 6A forms 2 bonds.

Each atom is surrounded by 8 electrons. This structure satisfies the octet rule. Examine the Lewis structure of NCl 3 below. Both Cl and N form the expected number of bonds. Cl group 7A has one bond and 3 lone pairs. The central atom N group 5A has 3 bonds and one lone pair. Yes, the Lewis structure of NCl 3 follows the octet rule. Define covalent bond. What is electron sharing? Draw the Lewis diagram for the covalent bond in the H 2 molecule.