Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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 ), [ 2 ] and impure white phosphorus is for this reason called yellow phosphorus.
White phosphorus is pyrophoric (it is ignited by contact with air); burns fiercely; and can ignite cloth, fuel, ammunition, and other combustibles. White phosphorus is a highly efficient smoke-producing agent, reacting with air to produce an immediate blanket of phosphorus pentoxide vapour.
Phosphorus pentoxide crystallizes in at least four forms or polymorphs.The most familiar one, a metastable form [1] (shown in the figure), comprises molecules of P 4 O 10.Weak van der Waals forces hold these molecules together in a hexagonal lattice (However, in spite of the high symmetry of the molecules, the crystal packing is not a close packing [2]).
It can cause “excruciating burns and lifelong suffering,” a Human Rights Watch spokesperson said.
The Pentagon recommended providing the white phosphorus shells to Ukraine as part of several aid packages, including a recent one, as a Presidential Drawdown Authority, according to the officials.
Animation of a strong acid–strong base neutralization titration (using phenolphthalein).The equivalence point is marked in red. In chemistry, neutralization or neutralisation (see spelling differences) is a chemical reaction in which acid and a base react with an equivalent quantity of each other.
People exposed to white phosphorus can suffer severe and sometimes deadly bone-deep burns. It can cause organs to shut down, and burns on just 10% of the body can be fatal, HRW said.
White phosphorus, yellow phosphorus or simply tetraphosphorus (P 4) exists as molecules of four phosphorus atoms in a tetrahedral structure, joined by six phosphorus—phosphorus single bonds. [1] The free P 4 molecule in the gas phase has a P-P bond length of r g = 2.1994(3) Å as was determined by gas electron diffraction . [ 2 ]