Most stable form?

[hannahdaijo_4H]

How do you determine an element's most stable form (as it pertains to standard enthalpy of formation)?

[pamcoronel1H]

An elements most stable form is usually is usually its more "basic" form. For example, O2 has a deltaH of 0 since it's only using one element. Another example would be that C(gr)--> C(gr) is in its most stable form since it doesn't take any energy to remain in the same state, but C(gr)--> C(diamond) is NOT because it requires energy to make C(gr) into diamond form.

[Shirley Liu 2I]

In this context, "most stable form" is regarding most stable elemental form. Most elements are monatomic and thus are most stable as is. However the diatomic molecules, as its name implies, is most stable when there are two atoms of it. (ex: O2)

[Vanadium Wang 4H]

An element's most stable form is most likely its standard elemental form, usually either in a monatomic or diatomic form

[Shibhon_Shepard]

What are the main things you would look for to determine its in the most stable form?