What is the Charge on H2S? And Why?

The Charge of H2S (Dihydrogen sulfide) is 0.

But the question is how can you say that the charge on H2S (dihydrogen sulfide) is 0?

Well you can say this by calculating its formal charge.

So let’s calculate the formal charge of H2S (dihydrogen sulfide).

If you are a visual learner like me, then here is a short two minute video for you.

Calculating the formal charge of H2S using lewis structure

In order to calculate the formal charge on H2S (dihydrogen sulfide), you should know the Lewis dot structure of H2S.

Here is the lewis structure of H2S.

Now using the above lewis structure of H2S, you have to find the formal charge on each atom that is present in the H2S molecule.

For calculating the formal charge, you need to remember this formula;

Formal charge = Valence electrons – Nonbonding electrons – (Bonding electrons)/2

You can see the bonding and nonbonding electrons of H2S from the image given below.

So now let’s calculate the formal charge on each individual atom present in H2S.

Formal charge on Hydrogen atom:
Valence electron = 1 (as it is in group 1 on periodic table) ^[1]
Nonbonding electrons = 0
Bonding electrons = 2

So according to the formula of formal charge, you will get;

Formal charge on Hydrogen = Valence electrons – Nonbonding electrons – (Bonding electrons)/2 = 1 – 0 – (2/2) = 0

So the formal charge on hydrogen atom is 0.

Formal charge on Sulfur atom:
Valence electrons = 6 (as it is in group 16 on periodic table) ^[2]
Nonbonding electrons = 4
Bonding electrons = 4

So according to the formula of formal charge, you will get;

Formal charge on Sulfur = Valence electrons – Nonbonding electrons – (Bonding electrons)/2 = 6 – 4 – (4/2) = 0

So the formal charge on sulfur atom is 0.

Now you can see that all the atoms of H2S have 0 formal charge. 

This indicates that the overall H2S (dihydrogen sulfide) molecule also has 0 charge and hence it is a neutral molecule.

I hope you have understood the above calculations for the formal charge of H2S (dihydrogen sulfide). 

Check out some other related topics for your practice.

Related topics:
Charge on HBr
Charge on POCl3
Charge on NO3 (Nitrate ion)
Charge on SO4 (Sulfate ion)
Charge of Iodine (I)