Question

1. give the electron configuration for the only sulfur ion using orbital (box) diagrams. use the oxidation numbers from the periodic table. remember, sulfur is a nonmetal and nonmetals gain electrons when forming ions. use the noble gas abbreviation method.

Explanation:

Step1: Determine sulfur's atomic number

Sulfur (S) has an atomic number of 16.

Step2: Identify the sulfur ion

Sulfur is a non - metal and gains 2 electrons to form the sulfide ion ($S^{2 -}$). So the total number of electrons in $S^{2 -}$ is 16 + 2=18 electrons.

Step3: Use noble - gas abbreviation

The noble gas before sulfur is neon (Ne) which has 10 electrons. So we start with [Ne].

Step4: Write the remaining electron configuration

We have 18 - 10 = 8 remaining electrons. The next orbitals are 3s and 3p. The 3s orbital can hold 2 electrons and the 3p orbital can hold 6 electrons. So the electron configuration after [Ne] is $3s^{2}3p^{6}$.

Answer:

$[Ne]3s^{2}3p^{6}$