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Sulfur

Element 16 · Nonmetal

Specimen

Atomic number
16
Atomic mass
32.06
State at room temperature
Solid
Melting point
115.2 °C
Boiling point
444.6 °C
Density
2.067 g/cm³
Discovered
Ancient

Atomic mass from IUPAC.1 Other physical data from PubChem.2

Can I eat it?

In food and water
Your body needs it. The body gets sulfur from the sulfur amino acids in protein. The US and Canada set no intake for sulfate, because enough protein supplies what the body needs. 3

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The atom

S
ShellElectrons
1 (K) 2
2 (L) 8
3 (M) outermost 6
Total16

Configuration [Ne] 3s² 3p⁴

3s ↑ ↓
3p ↑ ↓ ↑ ↑
A shell diagram: each ring is an electron shell and each dot is one electron. The nucleus holds 16 protons. The outermost shell is shown in red. Electrons do not travel on rings: they fill orbitals, regions where an electron is likely to be found. The boxes are those orbitals for the electrons outside the Ne core, with one arrow per electron.

Related elements

Group 16
O Oxygen Se Selenium Te Tellurium Po Polonium Lv Livermorium

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Sources

  1. 1

    IUPAC Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights (CIAAW), 2024. Abridged Standard Atomic Weights 2024 .

    The atomic mass shown for the 84 elements that have a standard atomic weight.

  2. 2

    National Center for Biotechnology Information (PubChem), 2026. Periodic Table of Elements .

    Electron configuration, melting and boiling points, density and discovery year for all 118 elements.

  3. 3

    Health Canada, from the Institute of Medicine (US) Dietary Reference Intakes reports, 2010. Dietary Reference Intakes tables (Institute of Medicine values), updated November 2010 , Reference Values for Elements, footnotes 20 to 27.

    The joint US and Canadian reference intakes. The values are from the Institute of Medicine reports of 1997 to 2004 and 2010.

    • An AI for sulfate was not established because sulfate requirements are met when dietary intakes contain recommended levels of sulfur amino acids (protein).
  4. 4

    National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 2026. Atomic Weights and Isotopic Compositions for All Elements .

    Isotopic composition of each element; the most abundant isotope sets the neutron count in the nucleus view.