what are the different ways of distinguishing iron from sulfur?

Answer 1

Well other then the obvious answer of sulfur smells like rotten eggs and that sulfur is very brittle, Iron won' burn if thrown in a fire whereas sulfur will combust and give off sulfur dioxide which if you bubble the smoke from burning sulfur through water will produce sulfuric acid.

Answer 2

Appearance: Sulfur is usually a yellow powder about the consistency of flour. Iron is a gray metal.
Density: The form of sulfur called flowers of sulfur is so light that it floats (almost) in water. Iron in any form sinks.
Reaction: Iron treated with an acid reacts slowly or rapidly at room temperature (77degF) to produce hydrogen bubbles and an orangey-brown solution. Sulfur does not react.
Magnetic attraction: Iron is attracted; sulfur is not.
Flammability: Touching a lit match to a pile of sulfur powder can cause it to begin burning with a low blue flame and emission of acrid sulfur dioxide gas. Iron cannot be ignited in this way.

Answer 3

Yes, first the most obvious way is that iron is magnetic, sulfur is not. Also, iron readilly loses electrons to produce an cation in the presence of the hydronium ion. Sulphur prefers to gain electrons. In addition, Iron ions can be precipitated out in the presense of a more active metal. You can also run some other qualitative tests such as boiling point/melting point, mass spec and such. Even the color of certain reactions (of varying valence states) can give away the presence of one element or another.