Question

which diagram describes how electrons fill the 3p orbital for sulfur?

Explanation:

Sulfur has an atomic number of 16. Its electron configuration is \(1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{2}3p^{4}\). According to Hund's rule, electrons fill degenerate orbitals (in the same sub - shell) singly first with parallel spins before pairing up. For the \(3p\) sub - shell (which has 3 orbitals), the first 3 electrons will occupy each of the 3 orbitals with parallel spins (\(\uparrow\)), and the 4th electron will pair up with one of them.

Answer:

E.