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Phosphorus. Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Earth. It has a concentration in the Earth's crust of about one gram per kilogram (compare ...
The phosphorus cycle is the biogeochemical cycle that involves the movement of phosphorus through the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere.Unlike many other biogeochemical cycles, the atmosphere does not play a significant role in the movement of phosphorus, because phosphorus and phosphorus-based materials do not enter the gaseous phase readily, [1] as the main source of gaseous phosphorus ...
White phosphorus (left), red phosphorus (center left and center right), and violet phosphorus (right) White phosphorus and resulting allotropes. Elemental phosphorus can exist in several allotropes, the most common of which are white and red solids. Solid violet and black allotropes are also known. Gaseous phosphorus exists as diphosphorus and ...
White phosphorus, yellow phosphorus, or simply tetraphosphorus (P 4) is an allotrope of phosphorus. It is a translucent waxy solid that quickly yellows in light (due to its photochemical conversion into red phosphorus), [1] and impure white phosphorus is for this reason called yellow phosphorus. White phosphorus is the first allotrope of ...
Red phosphorus is an allotrope of phosphorus. It is an amorphous polymeric red solid that is stable in air. It can be easily converted from white phosphorus under light or heating. It finds applications as matches and fire retardants. It was discovered in 1847 by Anton von Schrötter.
In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid, a.k.a. phosphoric acid H3PO4. The phosphate or orthophosphate ion [PO. 4]3−. is derived from phosphoric acid by the removal of three protons H+.
Although phosphorus (15 P) has 22 isotopes from 26 P to 47 P, only 31 P is stable; as such, phosphorus is considered a monoisotopic element. The longest-lived radioactive isotopes are 33 P with a half-life of 25.34 days and 32 P with a half-life of 14.268 days. [3][4] All others have half-lives of under 2.5 minutes, most under a second.
Phosphorus (Ancient Greek: Φωσφόρος, romanized:Phōsphoros) is the god of the planet Venus in its appearance as the Morning Star. Another Greek name for the Morning Star is " Eosphorus " (Ancient Greek: Ἑωσφόρος, romanized:Heōsphoros), which means "dawn-bringer". The term "eosphorus" is sometimes met in English.