Mineral phase
IMA name
Sulfur
Secondary names
Octasulfur; Sulphur
CAS number
10544-50-0
Class
native element
Compound type
elemental mineral
Formula
S8
Chemical formula
S8
Elemental formula
S8
Isotope mixture type
terrestrial abundance
  Formula Name Family Number min-max Isotope mole fraction State Relevance
S Sulfur element 8 constituent element main
Chemical bonds
  Bond Number
SS 8
Oxides
Formula S
Mass fraction (%) 100.0

Strunz

Class
elements (01)
Division
metalloids and nonmetals (01.C)
Family
Sulfur-selenium-iodine (01.CC)
Code
01.CC.05

Dana

Major class
native elements (I)
Class
native elements (01)
Type
with semi-metallic and non-metallic elements (01.03)
Group
Sulfur Polymorph group (01.03.05)
Code
01.03.05.01
Phase name
alpha-sulfur
Phase type
crystalline
Crystal system
orthorhombic
Crystal class
dipyramidal
Crystal class symbol
mmm (D2h)
Crystal spacegroup
Fddd
Molar mass
256.53 g/mol
Density
2.05 - 2.09 g/cm3
State NTP
solid
Phase transitions comments
Sulfur forms over 30 solid allotropes
Refringence type
biaxial
Refringence sign
positive
Birefringence
0.2873
Refraction index nα
1.9579
Refraction index nβ
2.0377
Refraction index nγ
2.2452
Dispersion V
relatively weak
Color
yellow, yellowish brown, yellowish gray, reddish, greenish
Diaphaneity
transparent to translucent
Luster
resinous