sulfur has more electrons than the octet?

[andrea tarelo 3e]

Hello everyone!
In class we did an example with SO₄ ^2- where Dr. Lavelle added two double bonds and two single bonds. I was wondering why that was possible? Is this only possible with sulfur or is this possible with a number of others?

[Sujin Lim 1H]

Hi! The professor said that he would go more into depth in his Wednesday lecture this week, but what he said so far in Monday's lecture what that since sulfur is in the n=3 orbital (third row of the periodic table) there are d-orbitals also involved, meaning there can be more than 8 valence electrons (there are only 8 electrons for the s and p orbitals combined). I'm sure he'll elaborate more on it tomorrow!

[Sristi Palimar 2E]

Dr Lavelle briefly mentioned that this was because Sulfur is capable of expanding its octet, such that it can use up to 12 electrons in the d orbital to form bonds with other elements. I believe there are other elements that are also able to expand their octet-- Dr. Lavelle will likely explain this further in future lectures.

[Cassidy Chiong 2J]

Once we enter the 3rd energy level, the d orbital becomes available, allowing us to expand the octet to more than 8 electrons. So, no, this property is not exclusive to sulfur.

[Christina Gigoux 1D]

You can only go beyond the octet when d orbitals are available. When we think about 8 valence electrons, this number comes from the outer s and p shells (s holds 2, p holds 6), but when the electron configuration involves d orbitals, we can go beyond this octet. You have to be however, because this does not work with all atoms. For example, C and O cannot have more than an octet.

[405716590]

If it is an element that can have d orbitals so those from the third row on then it can hove more than an octet