Sulfur
Chemistry 1
A Quick Background
Sulfur must have been well known to ancient peoples. They sometimes referred to it as brimstone. Sulfur sometimes occurs in bright yellow layers on the top of the earth. When it burns, it gives off a strong, suffocating smell. The odor is like that produced when a match is struck. Ancient people certainly did not think about sulfur the way modern chemists do. early thinkers were often confused as to what they meant by the word "sulfur." They often were talking about anything that burned and gave off large amounts of smoke. To them, "sulfur" was really a "burning substance." It took centuries for scientists to identify sulfur as an element.
Basic Information
Atomic Number
16
Protons
16
Electrons
16
Neutrons
16
Atomic mass
32.06 g.mol -1
Electronegativity
2.5
Density
2.07 g.cm -3 at 20 °C
Melting point
113 °C
Boiling point
445 °C
Isotopes
5
Discovered by
The ancients
Electron Configuration
1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p4
Physical Propeties
- Sulfur is tasteless
- Sulfur is a multivalent non-metal
- In its native state, sulfur is a yellow crystalline solid
- In nature it occurs as the pure element or as sulfide and sulfate minerals
- Sulfur is odorless, Hydrogen sulfide has a strong odor of rotten eggs
Chemical Properties
- When sulfur burns, the flame is blue
- When it burns, it gives off sulfur dioxide (So2)
- Sulfur usually combines easily with other elements at room temperature but sometimes is required to be heated up
- A typical reaction is sulfur and magnesium. When the two elements are heated, they form the compound magnesium sulfide (MgS).
- Sulfur combines with hydrogen gas to create hydrogen sulfide (H2s)
Isotopes
There are four naturally occurring isotopes of sulfur: sulfur-32, sulfur-33, sulfur-34, and sulfur-36. One radioactive isotope of sulfur, sulfur-35, is used commercially. In medicine, the isotope is used to study the way fluids occur inside the body.
Extraction and Uses
Like coal, sulfur sometimes occurs in thick layers under ground. One way to remove sulfur would be to mine it the way coal is mined. But a much easier method for removing sulfur from the ground is the Frasch method. Sulfur has relatively few uses as an element. One of the most important of those uses is in vulcanization. Vulcanization is the process of adding sulfur to rubber to make it stiff and hard. It keeps the rubber from melting as it gets warmer.
Fun Facts
- Hydrogen sulfide is added to natural gas (methane) used in homes for cooking and heating.
- In the year 808 a Chinese text provides us with possibly the first recipe for gunpowder, containing saltpeter, sulfur and carbon.
- The name may have been derived from the Arabic ‘sufra’ meaning yellow, or the Sanskrit ‘shulbari’ meaning enemy (ari) of copper (shulba).
- Sulfur is created inside large stars at extreme temperatures when a nucleus of helium fuses with a nucleus of silicon.
- Sulfur dioxide is found in air pollution at atmospheric levels and in acid rain.
Sulfur ***