sulphur

• Description
• General information
• Physical data
• Radii
• Electronegativities
• Solid state structure
• Temperatures
• Enthalpies
• Ionization Enthalpies
• Isotopes
• Further information

Description

The spelling of sulphur is "sulfur" in the USA and now that IUPAC has decided it has jurisdiction over the English language (as distinct from American English) as well as nomenclature, so we in the UK are expected to use the f word.

Sulphur is found in meteorites, volcanoes, hot springs, and as galena, gypsum, Epsom salts, and barite. It is recovered commercially from "salt domes" along the Gulf Coast of the USA.

Jupiter's moon Io owes its colours to various forms of sulphur. A dark area near the crater Aristarchus on the moon may be a sulphur deposit.

Sulphur is a pale yellow, odourless, brittle solid, which is insoluble in water but soluble in carbon disulphide. Sulphur is essential to life. It is a minor constituent of fats, body fluids, and skeletal minerals.

Carbon disulphide, hydrogen sulphide, and sulphur dioxide should be handled extremely carefully. Hydrogen sulphide in very small concentrations can be metabolized, but in higher concentrations it can cause death quickly by respiratory paralysis. It is insidious in that it quickly deadens the sense of smell. Sulphur dioxide is a dangerous component in atmospheric air pollution and is one of the factors responsible for acid rain.

General information

Discoveror: Known since ancient times
Date discovered:
Discovered at: not known
Meaning of name: From the Sanskrit word "sulvere" meaning "sulphur"; also from the Latin word "sulphurium" meaning "sulphur"

Physical data

Standard state: solid at 298 K
Colour: lemon yellow
Density of solid at ambient temperature/kg m^-3: 1960
Molar volume/cm³: 15.53

Radii /pm

Atomic: 88
Covalent (single bond):
Pauling radius for the ion [S]^-: 219

Valence shell orbital radius maxima (R_max)

orbital	s	p	d	f
radius	75.1	85.5	no data	no data

Electronegativities

Both values are quoted on the Pauling scale.

Pauling: 2.58
Allred Rochow: 2.44

Crystal Structure

structure: orthorhombic

The following CrystalMaker image represents the solid state structure. For most elements, the most stable allotrope is illustrated. Try WebElements version 2 for interactive virtual reality and CHIME images.

Temperatures (/K)

melting point: 388.36
boiling point: 717.87

Enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

fusion: 1.73
vaporization: 45

single bond enthalpies:

S-F	S-Cl	S-Br	S-I	S-S
284	255	217	no data	425.28

Ionization enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

Number	Enthalpy
1st	999.6
2nd	2251
3rd	3361
4th	4564
5th	7013
6th	8495
7th	27106
8th	31670

Isotopes

This section gives some data for naturally occurring isotopes.

Nominal mass	Accurate mass	% natural abundance
32S	31.97207070 (25)	95.02 (9)
33S	32.97145843 (23)	0.75 (1)
34S	33.96786665 (22)	4.21 (8)
36S	35.96708062 (27)	0.02 (1)

Further Information

• Additional information about WebElements 1.2.2
• This is a licensed copy (here is the full list) of WebElements 1.2.2 and contains a subset of the material contained within the main version of WebElements (version 2)
• For further information please try WebElements version 2
• Sheffield Chemdex: perhaps the largest internet chemistry directory
• Sheffield Chemputer: interactive chemistry calculators on the WWW