Group 16 or vi of the periodic table consists of five elements such as

oxygen(O), sulphur(S), selenium(Se), tellurium(Te) and

polonium(Po). The elements of this group are commonly known as
oxygen family after the name of its first member.
The first four elements of this group are non-metallic in character (O, S,
Se, Te) and are collectively called chalcogens (meaning ore forming
element) since a large number of metal ore either oxides or sulphides.
The element of this group also gradual increase in metallic character on
moving down the group. Thus:
 oxygen and sulphur are non-metal
 selenium and tellurium through essentially non-metallic and show
some metallic character as well.
 The last member of this group like polonium is metallic and it is
also radioactive with very short half-life.
Occurrence, extraction and uses Occurrence
Figure 16.1 illustrates the relative abundances of the group 16 elements
in the Earth’s crust.
 Dioxygen makes up 21% of the Earth’s atmosphere, and 47% of
the Earth’s crust is composed of O-containing compounds, e.g.
water, limestone, silica, silicates, bauxite and haematite. It is a
component of innumerable compounds and is essential to life,
being converted to CO2 during respiration.
 Native sulfur occurs in deposits around volcanoes and hot springs,
and sulfur-containing minerals include iron pyrites (fool’s gold,
FeS2), galena (PbS), sphalerite or zinc blende (ZnS), cinnabar
(HgS), realgar (As4S4), orpiment (As2S3), stibnite (Sb2S3),
molybdenite (MoS2) and chalcocite (Cu2S).
 Selenium and tellurium are relatively rare. Selenium occurs in only
a few minerals, while Te is usually combined with 9other metals,
e.g. in sylvanite (AgAuTe4).

PREPARATION OF GROUP 16
1. Preparation of sulphur
 Sulfur is obtained from vast deposits of the element that are found
below the surface in Louisiana and Texas by the Frasch process,
which makes use of three concentric pipes. In this process, sulfur
(which melts at 119°C) is melted by superheated water forced
underground in one pipe while compressed air is forced down a
second pipe. The molten sulfur is forced to the surface through the
third pipe.
  In natural gas, the source of sulfur is H2S which occurs in
concentrations of up to 30%. Sulfur is recovered by reaction as
shown below:

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
1. Electronic configuration
The element group 16 have six electrons in the valence shell and hence,
the outer general electronic configuration is ns2np4 and they are p-block
elements:
 2. Ionization enthalpy
The first ionization enthalpies of an elements of a group 16 elements
unexpectedly lower than those of corresponding element of group 15
despite their smaller at radii and higher nuclear charge. This is due the
relatively symmetrical and stable electronic configuration of element
group 15 (nitrogen family) as compared to the element of group 16

(oxygen family).
3. Melting point, boiling point and density:
Those increase regularly as we go down the group up to tellurium. This
is because with increase in atomic size, the vender waals’ among their
atoms increase. However, these values are less for polonium than those
for tellurium.

4. Metallic character:
The element of group 16 are less metallic. However, as we move
down the group, the ionization enthalpy decreases and hence the
metallic character increases.
5. Electronegativity:
The elements of group 16 have higher value of electronegativity than
the corresponding element of group 15. This is due to their smaller
atomic size and also they electron to attain noble gas stable
configuration.
Actually after oxygen, there is a steep drop in electronegativity for S,
Se, Te, and Po and consequently their compounds have less ionic
character.
Oxygen is second most electronegative element, the first being
fluorine.
6. Electron gain enthalpy:
The element of group 16 have two electrons less than the nearest
noble configuration. Therefore, they have tendency to accept two
additional electrons and hence have large negative electron gain
enthalpies next only to halogens. The electron gain of the oxygen, is,
however, least negative in the group. This is due to its small size. As
a result of which, electron-electron repulsions in the relatively small
2p-subshell are comparatively large and hence incoming electrons are
not accepted with the same ease as in case of other element of this
group.
7. Elemental state:
Oxygen exist as a diatomic gas at room temperature while other
elements (S, Se, and Te) exist as octaatomic solid.
Because oxygen due to small size and high electronegativity, it forms
pπ− pπ double bond with other oxygen atom and form O=O molecule.
The intermolecular force of attraction between oxygen molecule are
weaker van der waals force and hence it exists as a diatomic gas at
room temperature.
While other it does not forms pπ− pπ double bond due to their large
size and hence it does not exists as a diatomic molecule. Instead they
prefer to form single bond and also have complex structure.

8. Atomic radii:
The elements of group 16 have smaller value of atomic radii than the
corresponding element of group 15. Further as expected, the atomic
radii of the elements of oxygen family increase down the group.
Because due to the increased nuclear charge of group 16 element
which results in greater attraction of the electrons by the nucleus. The
increase in atomic radii of group 16 element down the group is due to
increase in the number of electron shells.