Answer:
- The oxidation number is also known as the oxidation state.
- Sulphur is a chemical element that belongs to the p-block and is found in the VI A group of the periodic table.
- Sulphur has an atomic number of 16, which indicates that it has 16 electrons.
- Sulphur’s electronic configuration is as follows.
- 1s22s22p63s23p4
- Sulphur has four electrons in the 3p orbital and two electrons in the 3s orbital.
- Sulphur loses these four electrons to participate in the process with others, resulting in a +4 oxidation state.
- If other compounds still require electrons to react with sulphur, the sulphur will lose two electrons from the 3s orbital and gain an oxidation number of +6.
- As a result, sulphur will have two oxidation states: +4 and +6.