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Why Can Sulfur Make 6 Bonds? Top 11 Best Answers

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Sulfur has one more electron pair in its 3s subshell so it can undergo excitation one more time and place the electron in another empty 3d orbital. Now sulfur has 6 unpaired electrons which means it can form 6 covalent bonds to give a total of 12 electrons around its valence shell.Sulphur has 6 Valance electrons so according to VBT it can form maximum of 6 covalent bonds. Same is with Oxygen but that can form maximum of 3 covalent bonds. This is because of availablity of vacant d orbitals in Sulphur, which can accommodate extra electrons other than octet. Thus sulphur forms SF6.Sulfur is a nonmetal in group 6A , and therefore has 6 valence electrons. In order to obey the octet rule, it needs to gain 2 electrons . It can do this by forming 2 single covalent bonds.

Why Can Sulfur Make 6 Bonds
Why Can Sulfur Make 6 Bonds

Table of Contents

Why can sulfur Form 6 bonds while oxygen can t?

Sulphur has 6 Valance electrons so according to VBT it can form maximum of 6 covalent bonds. Same is with Oxygen but that can form maximum of 3 covalent bonds. This is because of availablity of vacant d orbitals in Sulphur, which can accommodate extra electrons other than octet. Thus sulphur forms SF6.

How many bonds can sulfur make?

Sulfur is a nonmetal in group 6A , and therefore has 6 valence electrons. In order to obey the octet rule, it needs to gain 2 electrons . It can do this by forming 2 single covalent bonds.


Preview: Why stable sulphur is an octa-atomic molecule? |Ep.1 |Amna Javed |Grade 10th Student

Preview: Why stable sulphur is an octa-atomic molecule? |Ep.1 |Amna Javed |Grade 10th Student
Preview: Why stable sulphur is an octa-atomic molecule? |Ep.1 |Amna Javed |Grade 10th Student

Images related to the topicPreview: Why stable sulphur is an octa-atomic molecule? |Ep.1 |Amna Javed |Grade 10th Student

Preview: Why Stable Sulphur Is An Octa-Atomic Molecule? |Ep.1 |Amna Javed |Grade 10Th Student
Preview: Why Stable Sulphur Is An Octa-Atomic Molecule? |Ep.1 |Amna Javed |Grade 10Th Student

Why can sulfur break the octet rule?

An atom like phosphorus or sulfur which has more than an octet is said to have expanded its valence shell. This can only occur when the valence shell has enough orbitals to accommodate the extra electrons. For example, in the case of phosphorus, the valence shell has a principal quantum number n = 3.

What atoms can have 6 bonds?

Answer and Explanation: Sulfur is capable of forming 6 bonds because it can have an expanded valence shell; sulfur is in period 3 of the Periodic Table.

Why is sulfur capable of forming 6 bonds while oxygen isn’t given that they both have 6 valence electrons?

Sulfur has one more electron pair in its 3s subshell so it can undergo excitation one more time and place the electron in another empty 3d orbital. Now sulfur has 6 unpaired electrons which means it can form 6 covalent bonds to give a total of 12 electrons around its valence shell.

Why sulfur can form multiple bonds while oxygen Cannot form the multiple bonds?

The radius of a sulfur atom is about 60% larger than that of an oxygen atom. As a result, it is harder for sulfur atoms to come close enough together to form bonds. S=S double bonds are therefore much weaker than O=O.

Can Sulphur make 4 bonds?

In addition, sulfur can also form four-coordinate ‘hypervalent’ bonds, where its formal number of valence electrons exceeds eight. Compounds containing these bonds are known as sulfuranes.


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How can sulfur have 6 bonds? | Study.com

Sulfur is capable of forming 6 bonds because it can have an expanded valence shell; sulfur is in period 3 of the Periodic Table. This is possible.

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Why does sulphur form 6 bonds in SF6 , even when it’s …

Sulphur has 6 Valance electrons so according to VBT it can form maximum of 6 covalent bonds. Same is with Oxygen but that can form maximum of 3 …

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7.2: Exceptions to the Octet Rule – Chemistry LibreTexts

Sulfur bonded to six Fluorine that are equally spaced out from one another. The dot. Here the sulfur atom has six electron pairs in its valence …

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Why can sulfur have an expanded octet but not oxygen?

Neither oxygen nor sulfur “expands its octet”. Instead, sulfur in compounds such as SFX6 delocalizes the bonds formed with the usual octet …

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Does sf6 have 6 bonding electrons?

the number of electrons in the valence shell of sulphur in sf6 is. There are six sigma bonds and no lone pairs around sulphur atom. In six sigma bonds, there are twelve electrons. Therefore, there are twelve electrons in the valence shell of sulphur in SF6.

Does sulfur follow octet rule?

Atoms in these periods may follow the octet rule, but there are conditions where they can expand their valence shells to accommodate more than eight electrons. Sulfur and phosphorus are common examples of this behavior. Sulfur can follow the octet rule as in the molecule SF2. Each atom is surrounded by eight electrons.

How does sulfur expand octet?

Sulfur has electrons in 3s and 3p, but has an additional 3d sub shell as well, that’s currently empty. It can excite some its paired electrons into this empty orbital, spreading them out, so each can now form bonds and expand an octet to 12 electrons.

Why does sulfate have 4 Oxygens?

Sulfate is a polyatomic ion with 1 sulfur (6 valence electrons), 4 oxygens (4 x 6 valence electrons = 24 e) and a charge of -2 (2 valence electrons). If we add all the electrons together we get 32 valence electrons with which to make bonds and lone pairs around the atoms in the ion.

Why can phosphorus make 5 bonds?

Simple answer: hybridization. Phosphorus only ‘needs’ three more electrons to get a full valence shell of eight, but you’ll notice that it actually has five valence electrons, so in theory all of these could bond.


Exceptions to the Octet Rule

Exceptions to the Octet Rule
Exceptions to the Octet Rule

Images related to the topicExceptions to the Octet Rule

Exceptions To The Octet Rule
Exceptions To The Octet Rule

Are there sextuple bonds?

A sextuple bond is a type of covalent bond involving 12 bonding electrons and in which the bond order is 6. The only known molecules with true sextuple bonds are the diatomic dimolybdenum (Mo2) and ditungsten (W2), which exist in the gaseous phase and have boiling points of 4,639 °C (8,382 °F) and 5,930 °C (10,710 °F).

How can phosphorus and sulfur form up to 5 or 6 bonds?

Sulfur, phosphorus, silicon, and chlorine are common examples of elements that form an expanded octet. Phosphorus pentachloride (PCl5) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) are examples of molecules that deviate from the octet rule by having more than 8 electrons around the central atom.

Are quintuple bonds possible?

A quintuple bond in chemistry is an unusual type of chemical bond, first reported in 2005 for a dichromium compound. Single bonds, double bonds, and triple bonds are commonplace in chemistry.

Why does sulfur exist as S8?

Oxygen will form O2, with a double bond between the O atoms. Sulfur is not quite as “happy” doing this (i.e. the double bond between S atoms is not quite as favorable). So, elemental sulfur prefers to assemble itself into S8 rings with only single bonds between the S atoms.

What are the three exceptions to the octet rule?

However, there are three general exceptions to the octet rule: Molecules, such as NO, with an odd number of electrons; Molecules in which one or more atoms possess more than eight electrons, such as SF6; and. Molecules such as BCl3, in which one or more atoms possess less than eight electrons.

Why does no not follow the octet rule?

Nitric oxide has the formula NO. The total number of valence electrons is 5+6=11. Therefore, no matter how electrons are shared between the nitrogen and oxygen atoms, there is no way for nitrogen to have an octet.

What type of bonding is sulfur?

Each sulfur atom is bonded to each of its two neighbors in the ring by covalent S-S single bonds.

How many lone pairs does sulfur have?

Continuing with sulfur, we observe that in (a) the sulfur atom shares one bonding pair and has three lone pairs and has a total of six valence electrons.

What is false about oxygen and sulphur?

Solution : Actually oxygen is diatomic `(O_2)` while sulphur exists as octa-atomic `(S_8)` bonding.

Can an atom make 8 bonds?

Octet rule – Matter always wants to be in the most stable form. For any atom, stability is achieved by following the octet rule, which is to say all atoms (with a few exceptions) want 8 electrons in their outermost electron shell (just like noble gases).


I Know My Number Bonds 6 | Number Bonds to 6 | Addition Song for Kids | Jack Hartmann

I Know My Number Bonds 6 | Number Bonds to 6 | Addition Song for Kids | Jack Hartmann
I Know My Number Bonds 6 | Number Bonds to 6 | Addition Song for Kids | Jack Hartmann

Images related to the topicI Know My Number Bonds 6 | Number Bonds to 6 | Addition Song for Kids | Jack Hartmann

I Know My Number Bonds 6 | Number Bonds To 6 | Addition Song For Kids | Jack Hartmann
I Know My Number Bonds 6 | Number Bonds To 6 | Addition Song For Kids | Jack Hartmann

How many bonds can an element form?

So it can form three, or at most four bonds. Oxygen needed for Carbohydrates and Carbon Dioxide forms two bonds. Hydrogen needed for Carbohydrates can form one bond. Sulfur used in making some amino acids can form 2 , 4 or 6 bonds.

How do atoms achieve a full octet?

There are two ways in which atoms can satisfy the octet rule. One way is by sharing their valence electrons with other atoms. The second way is by transferring valence electrons from one atom to another.

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