1. Atomic Number: Sulfur has an atomic number of 16, meaning it has 16 protons and 16 electrons.
2. Electron Configuration: We'll fill the orbitals in order of increasing energy using the Aufbau principle:
* 1s²: The first shell (n=1) has one sublevel (s), which holds 2 electrons.
* 2s²: The second shell (n=2) has two sublevels (s and p), with the s sublevel holding 2 electrons.
* 2p⁶: The p sublevel in the second shell holds 6 electrons.
* 3s²: The third shell (n=3) has two sublevels (s and p), with the s sublevel holding 2 electrons.
* 3p⁴: The p sublevel in the third shell holds 6 electrons, but sulfur only has 4 more electrons to fill it.
3. Final Ground State Electron Configuration:
* S: 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁴
Simplified Notation: You can also write it in a shorter form:
* S: [Ne] 3s² 3p⁴ (where [Ne] represents the electron configuration of neon, the previous noble gas)
