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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 chemical structures of sulfur compounds H₂S, SF₆, S₂Cl₂, and S₄N₄ each contain only single (sigma) bonds. The compound that contains the longest bond between sulfur and an atom of another element is:

Question

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 chemical structures of sulfur compounds H₂S, SF₆, S₂Cl₂, and S₄N₄ each contain only single (sigma) bonds. The compound that contains the longest bond between sulfur and an atom of another element is:

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

11ecba2d_1231_2d0a_a3bf_7fedb127c19a_MD0008_00 Covalent bonds between atoms are formed by sharing electrons, which is made possible through the overlap of the atomic orbitals from each atom. Covalent bonds made by the end-to-end overlap of atomic orbitals are called sigma (σ) bonds, whereas covalent bonds made by the side-to-side overlap of p orbitals are called pi (π) bonds. A single covalent bond consists only of a σ bond, a double bond consists of one σ bond and one π bond, and a triple bond consists of one σ bond and two π bonds. Because a σ bond involves end-to-end overlap of two orbitals, the length of a σ bond can be estimated as the sum of the atomic radii of the bonded atoms. Bonding between atoms with larger atomic radii positions the atomic nuclei farther apart and results in a longer σ bond (and vice versa). On the periodic table, atomic radii tend to decrease across a row (due to an increasing effective nuclear charge) and increase down a column (due to having an additional electron shell). In this question, the given compounds all have σ bonds to a sulfur atom. As a result, the longest bond between sulfur and another element will be formed with the element that has the largest atomic radius. Because Cl has a larger atomic radius than H, N, or F, the S-Cl bond in S₂Cl₂ will the longest bond with sulfur among the given compounds. (Choices A, B, and D) Atoms of H, N, and F each have a smaller atomic radius than Cl. Therefore, the S-H bonds in H₂S, the S-F bonds in SF₆, and the S-N bonds in S₄N₄ are all shorter than the S-Cl bonds in S₂Cl₂. Educational objective: Covalent sigma bonds are made by sharing electrons through the end-to-end overlap of atomic orbitals. The length of a sigma bond can be estimated as the sum of the atomic radii of the bonded atoms. Atomic radii tend to decrease across a row and increase down a column on the periodic table.

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