Question

Sulphur dioxide (SO₂) is a colourless pungent smelling gas and is a major air pollutant. 

(i) Write the electronic configuration of its constituent 'sulphur and oxygen'. (Given ₁₆S³², ₈O¹⁶) (ii) Write the valencies of sulphur and oxygen. 

(iii) Are sulphur and oxygen isotopes of same element? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

                                                                      K     L    M 

(i) Electronic configuration of sulphur (S):     2,    8,   6 

Electronic configuration of Oxygen (O):        2,     6 

(ii) Sulphur and oxygen, both needs 2 electron to complete its octet. Thus valency of both Sulphur and Oxygen is 2. 

(iii) Isotopes are variants of same element with same atomic number but different atomic mass. Hence they are not isotopes.