Overwriters Laboratories inc.

Fear The Penguins!

Paul Atkinson, Scott Jaderholm, Cedric Shock

Lab on allotropic forms of sulfur

Purpose

We will examine the structure or arrangement of crystals of sulfur to observe what effect the method of preparation has upon crystal structure.

Observations

The orthorhombic sulfur is a granular yellow dust-like powder. The monoclinic sulfur is different. It is a a sharp, jagged, needle-like, fragile, brown substance. The amorphous sulfur is brown, hard, smooth, and forms into one big long string.

Conclusions

Heat, pressure and the abruptness of solidifying determine the crystalline form of a substance. The three allotropic forms of sulfur are orthorhombic, monoclinic, and amorphous sulfur. When sulfur vapors cool orthorhombic sulfur is formed. Monoclinic sulfur forms when liquid sulfur cools quickly in air. Amorphous sulfur is the result of a very rapid cooling of very hot sulfur.

Carbon and Oxygen both have allotropes. Oxygen has an allotrope consisting of three oxygen atoms. Its name, ozone, comes from a Greek word meaning to smell. Pure carbon occurs in nature in four forms: diamonds, graphite, amorphous carbon, and fullerenes. Buckminsterfullerene is a fullerene named after Buckminster Fuller, the man who designed the geodesic dome. It shows a great potential for use in many fields. It's discoverers recently earned the 1996 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.