Question

which diagram describes how electrons fill the 3p orbital for sulfur?

Explanation:

Step1: Recall sulfur's electron - configuration

Sulfur has an atomic number of 16. Its electron - configuration is $1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{2}3p^{4}$.

Step2: Apply Hund's rule

Hund's rule states that electrons will first singly occupy degenerate orbitals (same energy) with parallel spins before pairing up. The 3p sub - shell has 3 degenerate orbitals. For the 4 electrons in the 3p sub - shell of sulfur, the first 3 electrons will singly occupy each of the 3p orbitals with parallel spins, and the 4th electron will pair up with one of the first 3 electrons.

Answer:

D.