Atomic Mass of Sulfur
| Value | 0.03206 kg/mol |
| Status | Measured: ± 0.00002 kg/mol (0.00062 relative) |
| Source | IUPAC |
| Categories | Chemistry |
| gram per mole | 32.06 g/mol |
| kilogram per kilomole | 32.06 kg/kmol |
| milligram per millimole | 32.06 mg/mmol |
| pound per pound-mole | 32.06 lb/lb-mol |
| dalton (as molar mass) | 32.06 Da |
| kilogram per mole | 0.03206 kg/mol |
| kilodalton (as molar mass) | 0.03206 kDa |
Learning zone
Sulfur is 94.99 % ³²S with measurable amounts of ³³S, ³⁴S and ³⁶S, and the ratios vary enough between volcanic, biogenic and sedimentary sources that IUPAC gives an interval of 32.059 to 32.076. Those variations are a forensic tool: sulfur isotope signatures trace acid rain back to the smokestack that produced it and distinguish biologically reduced sulfide from the geological kind.
The atomic weight is what turns a fuel specification into a mass balance. Ultra-low-sulfur diesel at 15 ppm S, burned completely, produces SO₂ at 64.06/32.06 = twice the mass of the sulfur it contained; before the limits came down, that stream was the main source of acid rain across industrial Europe and North America. In water analysis the same number converts sulfate at 96.06 g/mol to sulfur, and sulfate is the ion that pairs with calcium to form the gypsum scale that acid dosing cannot dissolve.