Electronic Configuration of Chalcogen Family

The symbol, atomic number and electronic configuration of elements of Chalcogens are given below in this article.

Now let’s learn about them in detail.

Oxygen

Oxygen is denoted by the symbol O. It is a colourless and odourless gas that is converted into carbon dioxide during the human respiration process. Oxygen is a diatomic molecule. Oxygen is also found in trace amounts as a triatomic molecule (O3), which is known as ozone. Many elements combine easily with oxygen. The evolution of heat energy occurs during the combination of some elements; this process is known as combustion.

Sulphur

Symbol S represents sulfur. It’s a nonmetal that ranks ninth in terms of cosmic abundance. Sulphur can be found in both the combined and free states. Sulfates account for about 0.09 per cent of the sulphur found in seawater. The meteorite contains 12% sulphur, and a significant amount of sulphur is found in underground deposits of pure sulphur present in dome-like structures. Sulphur is formed in this environment by the action of anaerobic bacteria on sulphate minerals such as gypsum.

Selenium

Selenium is rarer than oxygen or sulphur. It can be found in a few minerals both free and combined with heavy metals (such as lead, silver, or mercury). Under typical settings, the grey metallic form of selenium is the most stable form of the element.

Tellurium

Tellurium is a chemical element with the atomic number 52 and properties intermediate between metals and nonmetals. It is one of the earth’s crust’s rarest stable elements. It is frequently found in its free state as well as in compounds with elements such as copper, lead, silver, and gold.

Polonium

It is the rarest element in the group of sixteen elements. It is a radioactive substance. Polonium is occasionally used in alpha radiation applications in science.

Chalcogens are the Group 16 elements of the modern periodic table consisting of 5 elements oxygen, sulphur, selenium, tellurium and polonium. The elements in this group are also known as chalcogens or ore-forming elements because many elements can be extracted from sulphide or oxide ores. The chalcogens are the elements that belong to group 16 of the modern periodic table (or the oxygen family).

In this article, we are going to learn about what are chalcogens, elements under the chalcogen family and their properties in detail.