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Question: How does an \( {S^{2 - }} \) ion differ from a neutral sulfur \( \left( S \right) \) atom?...

How does an S2−{S^{2 - }} ion differ from a neutral sulfur (S)\left( S \right) atom?

Explanation

Solution

The neutral atoms and ions both have different properties. The neutral atom has no charge while ions have a charge on them. Two types of ions are found – cation and anion. Cations have a positive charge while anions have a negative charge on them.

Complete answer:
Sulfur has an atomic number 1616 and the electronic configuration of a neutral atom is 1s  2  2s  2  2p  6  3s2  3p4{\bf{1s}}{\;^{\bf{2}}}\;{\bf{2s}}{\;^{\bf{2}}}\;{\bf{2p}}{\;^{\bf{6}}}\;{\bf{3}}{{\bf{s}}^{\bf{2}}}\;{\bf{3}}{{\bf{p}}^{\bf{4}}} .
The neutral sulfur atom or elemental sulfur has six electrons in the outermost shell and ten inner electrons.

At the same time, the anionic sulfur S2−{S^{2 - }} has eight electrons in the outermost shell as it accepts two more electrons and gains two negative charges. The electronic configuration of S2−{S^{2 - }} become 1s  2  2s  2  2p  6  3s2  3p6{\bf{1s}}{\;^{\bf{2}}}\;{\bf{2s}}{\;^{\bf{2}}}\;{\bf{2p}}{\;^{\bf{6}}}\;{\bf{3}}{{\bf{s}}^{\bf{2}}}\;{\bf{3}}{{\bf{p}}^6}

In either (R−S−R)(R - S - R) or H2S{H_2}S , the sulfur has two lone pairs and an electron from each of the bonds with R or H. Here, the bond type is covalent and the charge on sulfur is zero and the number of electrons in the outermost shell of sulfur is six. Similarly, in the case of HS−1orS−2H{S^{ - 1}}or{S^{ - 2}} there are seven and eight electrons respectively which makes the formal charge −1&\-2- 1\& \- 2 respectively.

Both species have an equal number of protons and neutrons, i.e. 16  &16  16\;\& 16\; respectively, but differ only in the number of electrons. S2−{S^{2 - }} ion is stable while the Sulfur atom is not.

Note:
The S2−{S^{2 - }} ion has a larger radius and atomic size as the effective nuclear charge is decreased on it. The neutral sulfur atom has a smaller atomic size than S2−{S^{2 - }} . The neutral sulfur atom is not readily available for bonding while S2−{S^{2 - }} is readily available for bonding as it has negative charge on it. In general, sulfur atoms do not exist individually, the most commonly present form of sulfur is octasulfur.