Sulfur orbital diagram

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In the sulfur orbital diagram, the 1s subshell accommodates two electrons, the 2s subshell holds another pair, and the 2p subshell encompasses six electrons. Moving to the 3s subshell, it contains two electrons, and the 3p subshell holds four electrons, totaling sixteen electrons.

To depict the sulfur orbital diagram, begin by determining the number of electrons from the periodic table. Note the electron configuration for reference and adhere to the three fundamental rules: the Aufbau principle, Pauli exclusion principle, and Hund’s rule. This systematic approach ensures an accurate representation of sulfur’s orbital arrangement.

Steps

Find electrons

The atomic number of sulfur represents the total number of electrons of sulfur. Since the atomic number of sulfur is 16, the total electrons of sulfur are 16.

Write electron configuration

The electron configuration of sulfur is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁴.

Learn how to find: Sulfur electron configuration

Now in the next step, start drawing the orbital diagram for sulfur.

Draw orbital diagram

Before drawing the orbital diagram, you should know the three general rules.

• Aufbau principle – electrons are first filled in lowest energy orbital and then in higher energy orbital
• Pauli exclusion principle – two electrons with the same spin can not occupy the same orbital
• Hund’s rule – each orbital should be first filled with one electron before being paired with a second electron

Also, you should know the number of orbitals in each subshell.

We can calculate the number of orbitals in each subshell using the formula: 2ℓ + 1

Where, ℓ = azimuthal quantum number of the subshell

For s subshell, ℓ = 0
For p subshell, ℓ = 1
For d subshell, ℓ = 2
For f subshell, ℓ = 3

So each s subshell has one orbital, each p subshell has three orbitals, each d subshell has five orbitals, and each f subshell has seven orbitals.

Now start to draw!

As mentioned above, the electron configuration of sulfur is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁴. Hence, draw the blank orbital diagram of sulfur up to 3p subshell as follows:

In the above orbital diagram, the box represents an orbital. Each orbital has a capacity of two electrons. And the arrows (↑↓) are drawn inside the box to represent electrons.

Now 1s² indicates that the 1s subshell has 2 electrons. So draw two arrows in the 1s box showing two electrons as follows:

2s² indicates that the 2s subshell has 2 electrons. So draw two arrows in the 2s box showing two electrons as follows:

2p⁶ indicates that the 2p subshell has 6 electrons. So draw six arrows in the 2p box showing six electrons as follows:

3s² indicates that the 3s subshell has 2 electrons. So draw two arrows in the 3s box showing two electrons as follows:

3p⁴ indicates that the 3p subshell has 4 electrons. So draw four arrows in the 3p box showing four electrons as follows:

That’s it! This is the final orbital diagram of sulfur as we have used all 16 electrons.

Next: Chlorine orbital diagram

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Related

• Periodic table

More topics

• Sulfur
• Sulfur Bohr model
• Sulfur electron configuration
• Sulfur protons neutrons electrons
• Sulfur valence electrons

External links

• https://homework.study.com/explanation/what-is-the-orbital-diagram-for-sulfur.html
• https://socratic.org/questions/how-do-yo-write-the-orbital-diagram-for-sulfur
• https://www.chegg.com/homework-help/questions-and-answers/orbital-diagram-sulfur-select-correct-answer-111-11-1-1111-11-1111-1-1s-2s-2-3s-11-11-1111-q94686179