What are the electron configurations of the six cations that sulfur forms, by losing one to six electrons? For cations with unpaired electrons, please provide orbital diagrams.

Verified step by step guidance

1. <insert step 1> Determine the electron configuration of a neutral sulfur atom. Sulfur has an atomic number of 16, so its electron configuration is: 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^4.>
2. <insert step 2> Identify the order in which electrons are removed to form cations. Electrons are removed from the outermost shell first, starting with the highest energy level. For sulfur, this means removing electrons from the 3p orbital first, followed by the 3s orbital.>
3. <insert step 3> For each cation, remove the appropriate number of electrons from the electron configuration of neutral sulfur.>
4. <insert step 4> Write the electron configuration for each cation formed by removing 1 to 6 electrons.>
5. <insert step 5> For cations with unpaired electrons, draw the orbital diagrams to show the distribution of electrons in the orbitals, indicating unpaired electrons with single arrows.>