Question

Based on the electron configuration of sulfur, S, a sulfur atom will gain or lose how many valence electrons when bonding with lithium?

Answer 1

With a metal, sulfur acts as an oxidizing agent, i.e. it formally accepts electrons.............

Explanation:

`2Li + S rarr Li_(2)S`

And if we wanted to (which we do) we could split this up into half equations:

`2Li rarr 2Li^(+) + 2e^(-)` `"Oxidation"`

`S+2e^(-) rarr S^(2-)` `"Reduction"`

And in terms of electron configuration, sulfur gains 2 valence electrons to give 8 valence electrons.

And lithium loses 1 valence electron to give a `[He]^+` core.