Final answer:
Elements such as sulfur, carbon, and phosphorus are called allotropes because they can exhibit different structural forms in the same physical state.
Step-by-step explanation:
Elements such as sulfur, carbon, and phosphorus are allotropes because they exhibit more than one structural form in the solid state. Allotropes are different structural modifications of the same element that exist in the same physical state but have different chemical structures. For example, carbon has several allotropes including diamond, graphite, charcoal, coke, carbon black, graphene, and fullerene. Similarly, oxygen has allotropes like O2 (dioxygen) and O3 (ozone), while sulfur can exist in forms like S8 rings, chains, or longer chains depending on the temperature.