Name: sulphur
Symbol: S
Atomic number: 16
Atomic weight: 32.066 (6) g r
Group in periodic table: 16
Group name: Chalcogen
Period in periodic table: 3
Block in periodic table: p-block
CAS registry ID: 7704-34-9
The spelling of sulphur is "sulfur" in the USA and now that IUPAC has decided it has jurisdiction over the English language (as distinct from American English) as well as nomenclature, so we in the UK are expected to use the f word.
Sulphur is found in meteorites, volcanoes, hot springs, and as galena, gypsum, Epsom salts, and barite. It is recovered commercially from "salt domes" along the Gulf Coast of the USA. Jupiter's moon Io owes its colours to various forms of sulphur. A dark area near the crater Aristarchus on the moon may be a sulphur deposit.
Sulphur is a pale yellow, odourless, brittle solid, which is insoluble in water but soluble in carbon disulphide. Sulphur is essential to life. It is a minor constituent of fats, body fluids, and skeletal minerals.
Carbon disulphide, hydrogen sulphide, and sulphur dioxide should be handled extremely carefully. Hydrogen sulphide in very small concentrations can be metabolized, but in higher concentrations it can cause death quickly by respiratory paralysis. It is insidious in that it quickly deadens the sense of smell. Sulphur dioxide is a dangerous component in atmospheric air pollution and is one of the factors responsible for acid rain.