Final answer:
The Lewis symbol for sulfur has six dots, representing its six valence electrons. Group VI elements like sulfur have six valence electrons, which are shown as dots around the element's symbol in the Lewis structure.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Lewis symbol for an element shows the element's valence electrons as dots around the chemical symbol of the element. When creating the Lewis symbol for sulfur, we need to consider that sulfur is in Group VI of the periodic table and therefore has six valence electrons. According to this information, the correct answer for how many dots a Lewis symbol of sulfur has would be (b) 6.
Here's how we arrive at this answer: sulfur's electron configuration ends in 3s² 3p⁴, indicating that there are two electrons in the 3s orbital and four electrons in the 3p orbitals, summing up to six valence electrons. The Lewis symbol for sulfur is represented by the symbol S surrounded by six dots, with two dots placed above, two dots below, and one dot on each side (left and right).