allotropy

allotropy, the existence of a chemical element in two or more forms, which may differ in the arrangement of atoms in crystalline solids or in the occurrence of molecules that contain different numbers of atoms. The existence of different crystalline forms of an element is the same phenomenon that in the case of compounds is called polymorphism. Allotropes may be monotropic, in which case one of the forms is the most stable under all conditions, or enantiotropic, in which case different forms are stable under different conditions and undergo reversible transitions from one to another at characteristic temperatures and pressures.

Elements exhibiting allotropy include tin, carbon, sulfur, phosphorus, and oxygen. Tin and sulfur are enantiotropic. The former exists in a gray form, stable below 13.2 °C, and a white form, stable at higher temperatures. Sulfur forms rhombic crystals, stable below 95.5 °C, and monoclinic crystals, stable between 95.5 °C and the melting point (119 °C). Carbon, phosphorus, and oxygen are monotropic. Graphite is more stable than diamond, red phosphorus is more stable than white, and diatomic oxygen, having the formula O₂, is more stable than triatomic oxygen (ozone, O₃) under all ordinary conditions.