Passage Sulfur Is the 10th Most Abundant Element on Earth and and Is

Passage
Sulfur is the 10th most abundant element on Earth and is an essential element in biological systems.  Sulfur can form a variety of chemical compounds and will react with nearly every element except Au, Pt, Ir, Te, and the noble gases.  A list of several common inorganic compounds of sulfur is given in Table 1.Table 1  Selected Common Inorganic Sulfur Compounds
Reduction of elemental sulfur by bacteria during anaerobic digestion produces the toxic, foul-smelling gas H₂S.  Oxidation of elemental sulfur via combustion or volcanic processes yields gases of SO₂ and SO₃.  When dissolved in water, both SO₂ and SO₃ produce acidic solutions, and SO₃ reacts with water to form the acid H₂SO₄.  Neutralization of H₂SO₄ can provide a variety of salts, including Na₂SO₄.Elemental sulfur can also react with halogen gases to form sulfur halides such as the industrially important insulator gas SF₆ and the synthetic reagent S₂Cl₂.  S₂Cl₂ facilitates the formation of other sulfur compounds.  For example, reacting S₂Cl₂ with NH₃ produces the sulfur pnictide S₄N₄.
-The anion SO₃²⁻ and sulfur trioxide, SO₃, have the same elemental composition.  These two chemical species are:

A) the same compound, because both have the same elemental composition.
B) the same compound, because both have the same number of electrons and bonding configuration.
C) different compounds, because the atoms in SO₃²⁻ are held together by ionic bonds.
D) different compounds, because SO₃²⁻ has two more electrons and a different bonding configuration.

Correct Answer:

Verified

Unlock this answer now
Get Access to more Verified Answers free of charge

Access For Free