When a sulfur (s) atom becomes an ion, what charge does it usually have?

1 Answer
May 24, 2018

Well, sulfur is a Group 16 NON-METAL...

Explanation:

And thus we might expect its chemistry to mirror that of oxygen, which commonly forms an #O^(2-)# ion. And while other oxidation states are available, sulfur does readily form sulfide ion, #S^(2-)#...……..

#S(s) + 2e^(-) rarr S^(2-)#

Under oxidizing conditions, we could access sulfate dianion, i.e.

#S(s) +4H_2Orarr SO_4^(2-)+8H^+ +6e^(-)#