Question

What is the total number of electrons in a S2– ion?
(1) 10 (3) 16
(2) 14 (4) 18

Answer 1

sulfur normally has 16 electrons (see the periodic table), but the 2- indicates that the atom is gaining 2 electrons. because of that, the answer would be 18.
hope this helped!

Answer 2

Answer: (4) 18

Explanation:
`S^(2-)` is an anion formed when neutral sulfur atom gains two electrons.

Sulfur (S) is an element with atomic number of 16. Thus it contains 16 electrons.

S:
`1s^22s^22p^63s^23p^4`

It gains two electrons, the number of electrons increase to 18 and attain a stable configuration.

`S^(2-):1s^22s^22p^63s^23p^6`