Sulphur

Sulphur (or sulfur) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent, and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula S₈. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow, crystalline solid at room temperature.

Characteristics[edit | edit source]

Sulphur is characterized by its bright yellow color, its ability to form an array of compounds, and its nonmetallic properties. It is part of the Chalcogen group on the periodic table, and is highly reactive, particularly with hydrogen and oxygen.

Occurrence[edit | edit source]

Sulphur occurs naturally as the pure element (native sulphur) and as sulphide and sulphate minerals. It is an essential element for life and is found in two amino acids, cysteine and methionine.

Uses[edit | edit source]

Sulphur is used in many industries, including the manufacture of sulphuric acid, the most produced chemical in the world. It is also used in the production of fertilizers, detergents, and gunpowder.

Health Effects[edit | edit source]

While sulphur is an essential element for life, exposure to high levels can cause irritation to the eyes, nose, throat, and skin, and can cause lung damage if inhaled.

References[edit | edit source]

Group	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
	Hydrogen & alkali metals	Alkaline earth metals											Triels	Tetrels	Pnictogens	Chalcogens	Halogens	Noble gases
Period 1	[[ hydrogen \|Hydrogen1H1.0080]]																	[[ helium \|Helium2He4.0026]]
2	[[ lithium \|Lithium3Li6.94]]	[[ beryllium \|Beryllium4Be9.0122]]											[[ boron \|Boron5B10.81]]	[[ carbon \|Carbon6C12.011]]	[[ nitrogen \|Nitrogen7N14.007]]	[[ oxygen \|Oxygen8O15.999]]	[[ fluorine \|Fluorine9F18.998]]	[[ neon \|Neon10Ne20.180]]
3	[[ sodium \|Sodium11Na22.990]]	[[ magnesium \|Magnesium12Mg24.305]]											[[ aluminium \|Aluminium13Al26.982]]	[[ silicon \|Silicon14Si28.085]]	[[ phosphorus\|Phosphorus15P30.974]]	[[ sulfur \|Sulfur16S32.06]]	[[ chlorine \|Chlorine17Cl35.45]]	[[ argon \|Argon18Ar39.95]]
4	[[ potassium \|Potassium19K39.098]]	[[ calcium \|Calcium20Ca40.078]]	[[ scandium \|Scandium21Sc44.956]]	[[ titanium \|Titanium22Ti47.867]]	[[ vanadium \|Vanadium23V50.942]]	[[ chromium \|Chromium24Cr51.996]]	[[ manganese \|Manganese25Mn54.938]]	[[ iron \|Iron26Fe55.845]]	[[ cobalt \|Cobalt27Co58.933]]	[[ nickel \|Nickel28Ni58.693]]	[[ copper \|Copper29Cu63.546]]	[[ zinc \|Zinc30Zn65.38]]	[[ gallium \|Gallium31Ga69.723]]	[[ germanium \|Germanium32Ge72.630]]	[[ arsenic \|Arsenic33As74.922]]	[[ selenium \|Selenium34Se78.971]]	[[ bromine \|Bromine35Br79.904]]	[[ krypton \|Krypton36Kr83.798]]
5	[[ rubidium \|Rubidium37Rb85.468]]	[[ strontium \|Strontium38Sr87.62]]	[[ yttrium \|Yttrium39Y88.906]]	[[ zirconium \|Zirconium40Zr91.224]]	[[ niobium \|Niobium41Nb92.906]]	[[ molybdenum\|Molybdenum42Mo95.95]]	[[ technetium\|Technetium43Tc[97]]]	[[ ruthenium \|Ruthenium44Ru101.07]]	[[ rhodium \|Rhodium45Rh102.91]]	[[ palladium \|Palladium46Pd106.42]]	[[ silver \|Silver47Ag107.87]]	[[ cadmium \|Cadmium48Cd112.41]]	[[ indium \|Indium49In114.82]]	[[ tin \|Tin50Sn118.71]]	[[ antimony \|Antimony51Sb121.76]]	[[ tellurium \|Tellurium52Te127.60]]	[[ iodine \|Iodine53I126.90]]	[[ xenon \|Xenon54Xe131.29]]
6	[[ caesium \|Caesium55Cs132.91]]	[[ barium \|Barium56Ba137.33]]	[[ lutetium \|Lutetium71Lu174.97]]	[[ hafnium \|Hafnium72Hf178.49]]	[[ tantalum \|Tantalum73Ta180.95]]	[[ tungsten \|Tungsten74W183.84]]	[[ rhenium \|Rhenium75Re186.21]]	[[ osmium \|Osmium76Os190.23]]	[[ iridium \|Iridium77Ir192.22]]	[[ platinum \|Platinum78Pt195.08]]	[[ gold \|Gold79Au196.97]]	[[ Mercury (element)\|Mercury80Hg200.59]]	[[ thallium \|Thallium81Tl204.38]]	[[ lead \|Lead82Pb207.2]]	[[ bismuth \|Bismuth83Bi208.98]]	[[ polonium \|Polonium84Po[209]]]	[[ astatine \|Astatine85At[210]]]	[[ radon \|Radon86Rn[222]]]
7	[[ francium \|Francium87Fr[223]]]	[[ radium \|Radium88Ra[226]]]	[[ lawrencium \|Lawrencium103Lr[266]]]	[[ rutherfordium\|Rutherfordium104Rf[267]]]	[[ dubnium \|Dubnium105Db[268]]]	[[ seaborgium \|Seaborgium106Sg[269]]]	[[ bohrium \|Bohrium107Bh[270]]]	[[ hassium \|Hassium108Hs[269]]]	[[ meitnerium \|Meitnerium109Mt[278]]]	[[ darmstadtium \|Darmstadtium110Ds[281]]]	[[ roentgenium \|Roentgenium111Rg[282]]]	[[ copernicium \|Copernicium112Cn[285]]]	[[ nihonium \|Nihonium113Nh[286]]]	[[ flerovium \|Flerovium114Fl[289]]]	[[ moscovium \|Moscovium115Mc[290]]]	[[ livermorium \|Livermorium116Lv[293]]]	[[ tennessine \|Tennessine117Ts[294]]]	[[ oganesson \|Oganesson118Og[294]]]

			[[ lanthanum \|Lanthanum57La138.91]]	[[ cerium \|Cerium58Ce140.12]]	[[ praseodymium\|Praseodymium59Pr140.91]]	[[ neodymium \|Neodymium60Nd144.24]]	[[ promethium \|Promethium61Pm[145]]]	[[ samarium \|Samarium62Sm150.36]]	[[ europium \|Europium63Eu151.96]]	[[ gadolinium \|Gadolinium64Gd157.25]]	[[ terbium \|Terbium65Tb158.93]]	[[ dysprosium \|Dysprosium66Dy162.50]]	[[ holmium \|Holmium67Ho164.93]]	[[ erbium \|Erbium68Er167.26]]	[[ thulium \|Thulium69Tm168.93]]	[[ ytterbium \|Ytterbium70Yb173.05]]
			[[ actinium \|Actinium89Ac[227]]]	[[ thorium \|Thorium90Th232.04]]	[[ protactinium\|Protactinium91Pa231.04]]	[[ uranium \|Uranium92U238.03]]	[[ neptunium \|Neptunium93Np[237]]]	[[ plutonium \|Plutonium94Pu[244]]]	[[ americium \|Americium95Am[243]]]	[[ curium \|Curium96Cm[247]]]	[[ berkelium \|Berkelium97Bk[247]]]	[[ californium \|Californium98Cf[251]]]	[[ einsteinium \|Einsteinium99Es[252]]]	[[ fermium \|Fermium100Fm[257]]]	[[ mendelevium\|Mendelevium101Md[258]]]	[[ nobelium \|Nobelium102No[259]]]

Primordial From decay Synthetic Border shows natural occurrence of the element

Standard atomic weight A_{r, std}(E)^[1]

Ca: 40.078

— Abridged value (uncertainty omitted here)^[2]

Po: [209] — mass number of the most stable isotope

style="padding:0 1px; background:#ff9999

" | s-block

style="padding:0 1px; background:#9bff99

" | f-block

style="padding:0 1px; background:#99ccff

" | d-block

style="padding:0 1px; background:#fdff8c

" | p-block

Sulphur Resources
Need Help Finding a Doctor? Need help finding a doctor or specialist anywhere in the world? Explore our world directory. WikiMD's DocFinder can assist you in locating millions of physicians.	Medical Knowledge Access the latest research - Most recent articles Ongoing trials.

Translate to: East Asian 中文, 日本, 한국어, South Asian हिन्दी, Urdu, বাংলা, తెలుగు, தமிழ், ಕನ್ನಡ,
Southeast Asian Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai, မြန်မာဘာသာ, European español, Deutsch, français, русский, português do Brasil, Italian, polski

↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named CIAAW2013
↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named CIAAW2021

Navigation: Wellness - Encyclopedia - Health topics - Disease Index‏‎ - Drugs - World Directory - Gray's Anatomy - Keto diet - Recipes

Search WikiMD

Ad.Tired of being Overweight? Try W8MD's physician weight loss program.
Semaglutide (Ozempic / Wegovy and Tirzepatide (Mounjaro / Zepbound) available.
Advertise on WikiMD

WikiMD is not a substitute for professional medical advice. See full disclaimer.

Credits:Most images are courtesy of Wikimedia commons, and templates Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY SA or similar.

[CIAAW2013-1] Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named CIAAW2013

[CIAAW2021-2] Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named CIAAW2021

[1]

[2]

v t e Chemical elements
Periodic table	Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4 Period 5 Period 6 Period 7 Period 8 (predicted)
By block	s-block p-block d-block f-block g-block (predicted)
By metallicity	Alkali metals Alkaline earth metals Lanthanides Actinides Transition metals Post-transition metals Metalloids Reactive nonmetals Noble gases Unknown chemical properties
Other	List of chemical elements List of chemical elements naming controversies List of scientists whose names are used in chemical element names List of places used in the names of chemical elements List of chemical element name etymologies History of the periodic table Discovery of the chemical elements
This Chemical elements related article is a stub.

Group	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
	Hydrogen & alkali metals	Alkaline earth metals											Triels	Tetrels	Pnictogens	Chalcogens	Halogens	Noble gases
Period 1	[[ hydrogen \|Hydrogen1H1.0080]]																	[[ helium \|Helium2He4.0026]]
2	[[ lithium \|Lithium3Li6.94]]	[[ beryllium \|Beryllium4Be9.0122]]											[[ boron \|Boron5B10.81]]	[[ carbon \|Carbon6C12.011]]	[[ nitrogen \|Nitrogen7N14.007]]	[[ oxygen \|Oxygen8O15.999]]	[[ fluorine \|Fluorine9F18.998]]	[[ neon \|Neon10Ne20.180]]
3	[[ sodium \|Sodium11Na22.990]]	[[ magnesium \|Magnesium12Mg24.305]]											[[ aluminium \|Aluminium13Al26.982]]	[[ silicon \|Silicon14Si28.085]]	[[ phosphorus\|Phosphorus15P30.974]]	[[ sulfur \|Sulfur16S32.06]]	[[ chlorine \|Chlorine17Cl35.45]]	[[ argon \|Argon18Ar39.95]]
4	[[ potassium \|Potassium19K39.098]]	[[ calcium \|Calcium20Ca40.078]]	[[ scandium \|Scandium21Sc44.956]]	[[ titanium \|Titanium22Ti47.867]]	[[ vanadium \|Vanadium23V50.942]]	[[ chromium \|Chromium24Cr51.996]]	[[ manganese \|Manganese25Mn54.938]]	[[ iron \|Iron26Fe55.845]]	[[ cobalt \|Cobalt27Co58.933]]	[[ nickel \|Nickel28Ni58.693]]	[[ copper \|Copper29Cu63.546]]	[[ zinc \|Zinc30Zn65.38]]	[[ gallium \|Gallium31Ga69.723]]	[[ germanium \|Germanium32Ge72.630]]	[[ arsenic \|Arsenic33As74.922]]	[[ selenium \|Selenium34Se78.971]]	[[ bromine \|Bromine35Br79.904]]	[[ krypton \|Krypton36Kr83.798]]
5	[[ rubidium \|Rubidium37Rb85.468]]	[[ strontium \|Strontium38Sr87.62]]	[[ yttrium \|Yttrium39Y88.906]]	[[ zirconium \|Zirconium40Zr91.224]]	[[ niobium \|Niobium41Nb92.906]]	[[ molybdenum\|Molybdenum42Mo95.95]]	[[ technetium\|Technetium43Tc[97]]]	[[ ruthenium \|Ruthenium44Ru101.07]]	[[ rhodium \|Rhodium45Rh102.91]]	[[ palladium \|Palladium46Pd106.42]]	[[ silver \|Silver47Ag107.87]]	[[ cadmium \|Cadmium48Cd112.41]]	[[ indium \|Indium49In114.82]]	[[ tin \|Tin50Sn118.71]]	[[ antimony \|Antimony51Sb121.76]]	[[ tellurium \|Tellurium52Te127.60]]	[[ iodine \|Iodine53I126.90]]	[[ xenon \|Xenon54Xe131.29]]
6	[[ caesium \|Caesium55Cs132.91]]	[[ barium \|Barium56Ba137.33]]	[[ lutetium \|Lutetium71Lu174.97]]	[[ hafnium \|Hafnium72Hf178.49]]	[[ tantalum \|Tantalum73Ta180.95]]	[[ tungsten \|Tungsten74W183.84]]	[[ rhenium \|Rhenium75Re186.21]]	[[ osmium \|Osmium76Os190.23]]	[[ iridium \|Iridium77Ir192.22]]	[[ platinum \|Platinum78Pt195.08]]	[[ gold \|Gold79Au196.97]]	[[ Mercury (element)\|Mercury80Hg200.59]]	[[ thallium \|Thallium81Tl204.38]]	[[ lead \|Lead82Pb207.2]]	[[ bismuth \|Bismuth83Bi208.98]]	[[ polonium \|Polonium84Po[209]]]	[[ astatine \|Astatine85At[210]]]	[[ radon \|Radon86Rn[222]]]
7	[[ francium \|Francium87Fr[223]]]	[[ radium \|Radium88Ra[226]]]	[[ lawrencium \|Lawrencium103Lr[266]]]	[[ rutherfordium\|Rutherfordium104Rf[267]]]	[[ dubnium \|Dubnium105Db[268]]]	[[ seaborgium \|Seaborgium106Sg[269]]]	[[ bohrium \|Bohrium107Bh[270]]]	[[ hassium \|Hassium108Hs[269]]]	[[ meitnerium \|Meitnerium109Mt[278]]]	[[ darmstadtium \|Darmstadtium110Ds[281]]]	[[ roentgenium \|Roentgenium111Rg[282]]]	[[ copernicium \|Copernicium112Cn[285]]]	[[ nihonium \|Nihonium113Nh[286]]]	[[ flerovium \|Flerovium114Fl[289]]]	[[ moscovium \|Moscovium115Mc[290]]]	[[ livermorium \|Livermorium116Lv[293]]]	[[ tennessine \|Tennessine117Ts[294]]]	[[ oganesson \|Oganesson118Og[294]]]

			[[ lanthanum \|Lanthanum57La138.91]]	[[ cerium \|Cerium58Ce140.12]]	[[ praseodymium\|Praseodymium59Pr140.91]]	[[ neodymium \|Neodymium60Nd144.24]]	[[ promethium \|Promethium61Pm[145]]]	[[ samarium \|Samarium62Sm150.36]]	[[ europium \|Europium63Eu151.96]]	[[ gadolinium \|Gadolinium64Gd157.25]]	[[ terbium \|Terbium65Tb158.93]]	[[ dysprosium \|Dysprosium66Dy162.50]]	[[ holmium \|Holmium67Ho164.93]]	[[ erbium \|Erbium68Er167.26]]	[[ thulium \|Thulium69Tm168.93]]	[[ ytterbium \|Ytterbium70Yb173.05]]
			[[ actinium \|Actinium89Ac[227]]]	[[ thorium \|Thorium90Th232.04]]	[[ protactinium\|Protactinium91Pa231.04]]	[[ uranium \|Uranium92U238.03]]	[[ neptunium \|Neptunium93Np[237]]]	[[ plutonium \|Plutonium94Pu[244]]]	[[ americium \|Americium95Am[243]]]	[[ curium \|Curium96Cm[247]]]	[[ berkelium \|Berkelium97Bk[247]]]	[[ californium \|Californium98Cf[251]]]	[[ einsteinium \|Einsteinium99Es[252]]]	[[ fermium \|Fermium100Fm[257]]]	[[ mendelevium\|Mendelevium101Md[258]]]	[[ nobelium \|Nobelium102No[259]]]