Barrons SAT Subject Test Chemistry, 13th Edition

As 2 S 3 —Lemon yellow

Sb 2 S 3 —Orange

CuS—Black

HgS—Black

PbS—Brown-black

Another important compound of sulfur is sulfur dioxide. It is a colorless gas
with a suffocating odor.
The structure of sulfur dioxide is a good example of resonance structures.
Its molecule is depicted in Figure 39.

Figure 35. Sulfur Dioxide Molecule

You will notice in Figure 35 that the covalent bonds between sulfur and oxygen
are shown in one drawing as single bonds and in the other as double bonds. This
signifies that the bonds between the sulfur and oxygens have been shown by
experimentation to be neither single nor double bonds, but “hybrids” of the two.
Sulfur trioxide, shown below, also has resonance structures.

TIP

Resonance is a hybrid of the two structures shown.

HALOGEN FAMILY

The common members of the halogen family are shown in Table 13 with some
important facts concerning them.

Table 13. Halogen Family