text: Gray arsenic, also called grey arsenic or metallic arsenic, is the most stable allotrope of the element at room temperature, and as such is its most common form. This soft, brittle allotrope of arsenic has a steel gray, metallic color, and is a good conductor. The rhombohedral form of this allotrope is analogous to the phosphorus allotrope black phosphorus. In its α-form, As rings in chair confirmations are condensed into packed layers lying perpendicular to the crystallographic c axis. Within each layer, the vicinal As-As bond distances are 2.517 Å, while the layer-to-layer As-As bond distances are 3.120 Å. The overall structure displays a distorted octahedral geometry, resulting in the largely metallic properties of this allotrope. Upon sublimation at 616 °C, the gas phase arsenic molecules lose this packing arrangement and form small clusters of As, As, and As, though As is by far the most abundant in this phase. If these vapors are condensed swiftly onto a cold surface () results due to the lack of energy required to form the rhombohedral gray arsenic lattice. Conversely, condensation of arsenic vapors onto a heated surface generates amorphous black arsenic. The crystalline form of black arsenic can also be isolated, and the amorphous form can be annealed to return to the metallic gray arsenic form. Yellow arsenic can also be returned to the gray allotrope in a facile manner through application of light or by returning the molecule to room temperature.