The modern digit 8, like all modern 

Arabic numerals other than zero, originates with the Brahmi

numerals. The Brahmi digit for eight by the 1st century was written in one stroke as a curve └┐
looking like an uppercase H with the bottom half of the left line and the upper half of the right line
removed. However, the digit for eight used in India in the early centuries of the Common Era
developed considerable graphic variation, and in some cases took the shape of a single wedge,
which was adopted into the Perso-Arabic tradition as ٨ (and also gave rise to the later Devanagari
form ८); the alternative curved glyph also existed as a variant in Perso-Arabic tradition, where it
came to look similar to our digit 5.[year  needed]
The digits as used in Al-Andalus by the 10th century were a distinctive western variant of the glyphs
used in the Arabic-speaking world, known as ghubār numerals (ghubār translating to "sand table").
In these digits, the line of the 5-like glyph used in Indian manuscripts for eight came to be formed in
ghubār as a closed loop, which was the 8-shape that became adopted into European use in the 10th
century.[14]
Just as in most modern typefaces, in typefaces with text figures the character for the digit 8 usually

has an ascender, as, for example, in  .

The infinity symbol ∞, described as a "sideways figure eight", is unrelated to the digit 8 in origin; it is
first used (in the mathematical meaning "infinity") in the 17th century, and it may be derived from
the Roman numeral for "one thousand" CIƆ, or alternatively from the final Greek letter, ω.

In science
Physics
 In nuclear physics, the second magic number.[15]
 In particle physics, the eightfold way is used to classify sub-atomic particles.[16]
 In statistical mechanics, the eight-vertex model has 8 possible configurations of arrows at
each vertex.[17]
Astronomy
 Messier object M8, a magnitude 5.0 nebula in the constellation of Sagittarius.[18]
 The New General Catalogue object NGC 8, a double star in the constellation Pegasus.
 Since the demotion of Pluto to a dwarf planet on 24 August 2006, in our Solar System, eight
of the bodies orbiting the Sun are considered to be planets.
Chemistry
 The atomic number of oxygen.[19]
 The most stable allotrope of a sulfur molecule is made of eight sulfur atoms arranged in a
rhombic form.[20]
 The maximum number of electrons that can occupy a valence shell.
 The red pigment lycopene consists of eight isoprene units.[21]
Geology
 A disphenoid crystal is bounded by eight scalene triangles arranged in pairs. A ditetragonal
prism in the tetragonal crystal system has eight similar faces whose alternate interfacial angles
only are equal.
Biology
 All spiders, and more generally all arachnids, have eight legs.[22] Orb-weaver spiders of the
cosmopolitan family Areneidae have eight similar eyes.[23]
 The octopus and its cephalopod relatives in genus Argonauta have eight arms (tentacles).
 Compound coelenterates of the subclass or order Alcyonaria have polyps with eight-
branched tentacles and eight septa.[24]
 Sea anemones of genus Edwardsia have eight mesenteries.[25]
 Animals of phylum Ctenophora swim by means of eight meridional bands of transverse
ciliated plates, each plate representing a row of large modified cilia. [26]
 The eight-spotted forester (genus Alypia, family Zygaenidae) is a diurnal moth having black
wings with brilliant white spots.
 The ascus in fungi of the class Ascomycetes, following nuclear fusion, bears within it typically
eight ascospores.[27]
 Herbs of genus Coreopsis (tickseed) have showy flower heads with involucral bracts in two
distinct series of eight each.
 In human adult dentition there are eight teeth in each quadrant.[28] The eighth tooth is the so-
called wisdom tooth.
 There are eight cervical nerves on each side in man and most mammals.[29]
Psychology
The modern digit 8, like all modern Arabic numerals other than zero, originates with the Brahmi
numerals. The Brahmi digit for eight by the 1st century was written in one stroke as a curve └┐
looking like an uppercase H with the bottom half of the left line and the upper half of the right line
removed. However, the digit for eight used in India in the early centuries of the Common Era
developed considerable graphic variation, and in some cases took the shape of a single wedge,
which was adopted into the Perso-Arabic tradition as ٨ (and also gave rise to the later Devanagari
form ८); the alternative curved glyph also existed as a variant in Perso-Arabic tradition, where it
came to look similar to our digit 5.[year  needed]
The digits as used in Al-Andalus by the 10th century were a distinctive western variant of the glyphs
used in the Arabic-speaking world, known as ghubār numerals (ghubār translating to "sand table").
In these digits, the line of the 5-like glyph used in Indian manuscripts for eight came to be formed in
ghubār as a closed loop, which was the 8-shape that became adopted into European use in the 10th
century.[14]
Just as in most modern typefaces, in typefaces with text figures the character for the digit 8 usually

has an ascender, as, for example, in  .

The infinity symbol ∞, described as a "sideways figure eight", is unrelated to the digit 8 in origin; it is
first used (in the mathematical meaning "infinity") in the 17th century, and it may be derived from
the Roman numeral for "one thousand" CIƆ, or alternatively from the final Greek letter, ω.

In science
Physics
 In nuclear physics, the second magic number.[15]
 In particle physics, the eightfold way is used to classify sub-atomic particles.[16]
 In statistical mechanics, the eight-vertex model has 8 possible configurations of arrows at
each vertex.[17]
Astronomy
 Messier object M8, a magnitude 5.0 nebula in the constellation of Sagittarius.[18]
 The New General Catalogue object NGC 8, a double star in the constellation Pegasus.
 Since the demotion of Pluto to a dwarf planet on 24 August 2006, in our Solar System, eight
of the bodies orbiting the Sun are considered to be planets.
Chemistry
 The atomic number of oxygen.[19]
 The most stable allotrope of a sulfur molecule is made of eight sulfur atoms arranged in a
rhombic form.[20]
 The maximum number of electrons that can occupy a valence shell.
 The red pigment lycopene consists of eight isoprene units.[21]
Geology
 A disphenoid crystal is bounded by eight scalene triangles arranged in pairs. A ditetragonal
prism in the tetragonal crystal system has eight similar faces whose alternate interfacial angles
only are equal.
Biology
 All spiders, and more generally all arachnids, have eight legs.[22] Orb-weaver spiders of the
cosmopolitan family Areneidae have eight similar eyes.[23]
 The octopus and its cephalopod relatives in genus Argonauta have eight arms (tentacles).
 Compound coelenterates of the subclass or order Alcyonaria have polyps with eight-
branched tentacles and eight septa.[24]
 Sea anemones of genus Edwardsia have eight mesenteries.[25]
 Animals of phylum Ctenophora swim by means of eight meridional bands of transverse
ciliated plates, each plate representing a row of large modified cilia. [26]
 The eight-spotted forester (genus Alypia, family Zygaenidae) is a diurnal moth having black
wings with brilliant white spots.
 The ascus in fungi of the class Ascomycetes, following nuclear fusion, bears within it typically
eight ascospores.[27]
 Herbs of genus Coreopsis (tickseed) have showy flower heads with involucral bracts in two
distinct series of eight each.
 In human adult dentition there are eight teeth in each quadrant.[28] The eighth tooth is the so-
called wisdom tooth.
 There are eight cervical nerves on each side in man and most mammals.[29]
Psychology
The modern digit 8, like all modern Arabic numerals other than zero, originates with the Brahmi
numerals. The Brahmi digit for eight by the 1st century was written in one stroke as a curve └┐
looking like an uppercase H with the bottom half of the left line and the upper half of the right line
removed. However, the digit for eight used in India in the early centuries of the Common Era
developed considerable graphic variation, and in some cases took the shape of a single wedge,
which was adopted into the Perso-Arabic tradition as ٨ (and also gave rise to the later Devanagari
form ८); the alternative curved glyph also existed as a variant in Perso-Arabic tradition, where it
came to look similar to our digit 5.[year  needed]
The digits as used in Al-Andalus by the 10th century were a distinctive western variant of the glyphs
used in the Arabic-speaking world, known as ghubār numerals (ghubār translating to "sand table").
In these digits, the line of the 5-like glyph used in Indian manuscripts for eight came to be formed in
ghubār as a closed loop, which was the 8-shape that became adopted into European use in the 10th
century.[14]
Just as in most modern typefaces, in typefaces with text figures the character for the digit 8 usually

has an ascender, as, for example, in  .

The infinity symbol ∞, described as a "sideways figure eight", is unrelated to the digit 8 in origin; it is
first used (in the mathematical meaning "infinity") in the 17th century, and it may be derived from
the Roman numeral for "one thousand" CIƆ, or alternatively from the final Greek letter, ω.

In science
Physics
 In nuclear physics, the second magic number.[15]
 In particle physics, the eightfold way is used to classify sub-atomic particles.[16]
 In statistical mechanics, the eight-vertex model has 8 possible configurations of arrows at
each vertex.[17]
Astronomy
 Messier object M8, a magnitude 5.0 nebula in the constellation of Sagittarius.[18]
 The New General Catalogue object NGC 8, a double star in the constellation Pegasus.
 Since the demotion of Pluto to a dwarf planet on 24 August 2006, in our Solar System, eight
of the bodies orbiting the Sun are considered to be planets.
Chemistry
 The atomic number of oxygen.[19]
 The most stable allotrope of a sulfur molecule is made of eight sulfur atoms arranged in a
rhombic form.[20]
 The maximum number of electrons that can occupy a valence shell.
 The red pigment lycopene consists of eight isoprene units.[21]
Geology
 A disphenoid crystal is bounded by eight scalene triangles arranged in pairs. A ditetragonal
prism in the tetragonal crystal system has eight similar faces whose alternate interfacial angles
only are equal.
Biology
 All spiders, and more generally all arachnids, have eight legs.[22] Orb-weaver spiders of the
cosmopolitan family Areneidae have eight similar eyes.[23]
 The octopus and its cephalopod relatives in genus Argonauta have eight arms (tentacles).
 Compound coelenterates of the subclass or order Alcyonaria have polyps with eight-
branched tentacles and eight septa.[24]
 Sea anemones of genus Edwardsia have eight mesenteries.[25]
 Animals of phylum Ctenophora swim by means of eight meridional bands of transverse
ciliated plates, each plate representing a row of large modified cilia. [26]
 The eight-spotted forester (genus Alypia, family Zygaenidae) is a diurnal moth having black
wings with brilliant white spots.
 The ascus in fungi of the class Ascomycetes, following nuclear fusion, bears within it typically
eight ascospores.[27]
 Herbs of genus Coreopsis (tickseed) have showy flower heads with involucral bracts in two
distinct series of eight each.
 In human adult dentition there are eight teeth in each quadrant.[28] The eighth tooth is the so-
called wisdom tooth.
 There are eight cervical nerves on each side in man and most mammals.[29]
Psychology