I would like to ask a question about Sulfur in the reaction with Nitric Acid, $\ce{HNO3}$ to produce Sulfuric Acid, $\ce{H2SO4}$
I read that as Nitrogen and Sulfur are reduced and oxidised respectively, the reaction equation can be constructed as follows:
$\ce{S + 6HNO3 -> H2SO4 + 6NO2 + 2H2O}$
Now, when I read an article on wikipedia regarding sulfur, the introductory paragraph states the following:
Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula $\ce{S8}$.
So why is sulfur represented in the equation as $\ce{S}$ and not $\ce{S8}$?