allotropy

Iron represents perhaps the best-known example for allotropy in a metal.

Elements which exist in more than one crystalline form are said to exhibit allotropy.

The term allotropy is used for elements only, not for compounds.

Throughout his life, Cohen studied the allotropy of tin.

For pure chemical elements, polymorphism is known as allotropy.

An element which can exist in two or more solid forms (crystalline or amorphous) is said to exhibit allotropy.

Allotropy, the property that certain chemical elements have of existing in two or more different forms in the same physical state (gas, liquid, or solid).

Allotropy can also be caused by different arrangements of atoms in amorphous (noncrystalline) or crystalline structures of an element.

He also introduced the possibility of allotropy in chemical elements when he discovered that diamond is a crystalline form of carbon.

Polymorphism can potentially be found in any crystalline material including polymers, minerals, and metals, and is related to allotropy, which refers to chemical elements.

Please copy/paste the following text to properly cite this HowStuffWorks article: "Allotropy" 21 July 2009.

The concept of allotropy was originally proposed in 1841 by the Swedish scientist Baron Jöns Jakob Berzelius (1779-1848).

Although many other chemists have repeated this advice, IUPAC and most chemistry texts still favour the usage of allotrope and allotropy for elements only.

Ernst Julius Cohen ForMemRS (March 7, 1869 - March 5, 1944) was a Dutch Jewish chemist known for his work on the allotropy of metals.

Many elements show Allotropy as there are often various ways in which the atoms can be linked together and also different ways in which the molecules can be arranged to make larger structures.

Allotropy or allotropism (coined from Greek "other" + "grow") is the property of some chemical elements to exist in two or more different forms, known as allotropes of these elements.

In alloys, this rearrangement may cause an element that will not normally dissolve into the base metal to suddenly become soluble, while a reversal of the allotropy will make the elements either partially or completely insoluble.

Allotropy refers only to different forms of an element within the same phase (i.e. different solid, liquid or gas forms); the changes of state between solid, liquid and gas in themselves are not considered allotropy.

By 1912, Ostwald noted that the allotropy of elements is just a special case of the phenomenon of polymorphism known for compounds, and proposed that the terms allotrope and allotropy be abandoned and replaced by polymorph and polymorphism.