What is the oxidation number of sulfur?

1 Answer
anor277
Dec 17, 2015

The oxidation number of any element in its elemental state is 0.

Explanation:

So sulfur is zerovalent, just at oxygen is as the O_2 molecule or in its atomic state. Because sulfur is in Group VI, it has very similar redox behaviour to oxygen (or rather because oxygen and sulfur have similar chemistry, we, as chemists, put it in Group VI). Sulfur can have many oxidation states; its maximum number is VI^+, for example in sulfuric acid or in SO_3.

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