Sulfur possesses 16 electrons in its ground state. The first shell of sulfur has 2 electrons. The next shell has 8 electrons. The third and final shell of sulfur has 6 electrons. The electronic configuration is written as:
1s², 2s², 2p⁶, 3s², 3p⁴
This means that sulfur exhibits a valency of -2, which is true in many cases.
