Phosphorus

White phosphorus exposed to air glows in the dark
The tetrahedral structure of P4O10 and P4S10.
A stable diphosphene, a derivative of phosphorus(I).
Robert Boyle
Guano mining in the Central Chincha Islands, ca. 1860.
Mining of phosphate rock in Nauru
Match striking surface made of a mixture of red phosphorus, glue and ground glass. The glass powder is used to increase the friction.
Phosphorus explosion

Chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15.

- Phosphorus
White phosphorus exposed to air glows in the dark

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Methane, CH4; is among the simplest organic compounds.

Organophosphorus compound

Methane, CH4; is among the simplest organic compounds.

Organophosphorus compounds are organic compounds containing phosphorus.

A farmer spreading manure to improve soil fertility

Fertilizer

Any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients.

Any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients.

A farmer spreading manure to improve soil fertility
World population supported with and without synthetic nitrogen fertilizers.
Founded in 1812, Mirat, producer of manures and fertilizers, is claimed to be the oldest industrial business in Salamanca (Spain).
Six tomato plants grown with and without nitrate fertilizer on nutrient-poor sand/clay soil. One of the plants in the nutrient-poor soil has died.
Inorganic fertilizer use by region
Total nitrogenous fertilizer consumption per region, measured in tonnes of total nutrient per year.
An apatite mine in Siilinjärvi, Finland.
Compost bin for small-scale production of organic fertilizer
A large commercial compost operation
Applying superphosphate fertilizer by hand, New Zealand, 1938
Fertilizer burn
N-Butylthiophosphoryltriamide, an enhanced efficiency fertilizer.
Fertilizer use (2018). From FAO's World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2020
The diagram displays the statistics of fertilizer consumption in western and central European counties from data published by The World Bank for 2012.
Runoff of soil and fertilizer during a rain storm
Large pile of phosphogypsum waste near Fort Meade, Florida.
Red circles show the location and size of many dead zones.
Global methane concentrations (surface and atmospheric) for 2005; note distinct plumes

For most modern agricultural practices, fertilization focuses on three main macro nutrients: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K) with occasional addition of supplements like rock dust for micronutrients.

Phosphorescent bird figure

Phosphorescence

Type of photoluminescence related to fluorescence.

Type of photoluminescence related to fluorescence.

Phosphorescent bird figure
Phosphorescent, europium-doped, strontium silicate-aluminate oxide powder under visible light, fluorescing/phosphorescing under long-wave UV light, and persistently phosphorescing in total darkness
Jablonski diagram of an energy scheme used to explain the difference between fluorescence and phosphorescence. The excitation of molecule A to its singlet excited state (1A*) may, after a short time between absorption and emission (fluorescence lifetime), return immediately to ground state, giving off a photon via fluorescence (decay time). However, sustained excitation is followed by intersystem crossing to the triplet state (3A) that relaxes to the ground state by phosphorescence with much longer decay times.
After an electron absorbs a photon of high energy, it may undergo vibrational relaxations and intersystem crossing to another spin state. Again the system relaxes vibrationally in the new spin state and eventually emits light by phosphorescence.
An extremely intense pulse of short-wave UV light in a flashtube produced this blue persistent-phosphorescence in the amorphous, fused silica envelope, lasting as long as 20 minutes after the 3.5 microsecond flash.
An electron microscope reveals vacancy defects in a crystalline lattice of molybdenum disulfide. The missing sulfur atoms leave dangling bonds between the molybdenum atoms, creating a trap in the empty spaces.
Phosphorescent elements of a wrist watch that had been exposed to bright light: clock face with twelve dots as well as minute and hour hand
thumb|Zinc sulfide (left) and strontium aluminate (right), in visible light, in darkness, and after 4 minutes in the dark.
thumb|Calcium sulfide (left) and metal-earth silicate (right) phosphoresce in red and blue respectively.
Before image of capturing a shadow on a phosphorescent wall.
After image of capturing a shadow on a phosphorescent wall.

In 1677, Hennig Brand isolated a new element that glowed due to a chemiluminescent reaction when exposed to air, and named it "phosphorus".

White phosphorus (left), red phosphorus (center left and center right), and violet phosphorus (right)

Allotropes of phosphorus

White phosphorus (left), red phosphorus (center left and center right), and violet phosphorus (right)
White phosphorus and resulting allotropes
White phosphorus crystal structure
White phosphorus sample, with a chunk removed from the corner to expose un-oxidized material
Tetraphosphorus molecule
Red phosphorus
Red phosphorus structure
Violet phosphorus (right) by a sample of red phosphorus (left)
Violet phosphorus structure
Hitorff's phosphorus structure
Black phosphorus ampoule
Black phosphorus
Black phosphorus structure
Structure of diphosphorus
Diphosphorus molecule

Elemental phosphorus can exist in several allotropes, the most common of which are white and red solids.

A collection of pnictogen samples

Pnictogen

Any of the chemical elements in group 15 of the periodic table.

Any of the chemical elements in group 15 of the periodic table.

A collection of pnictogen samples

It consists of the elements nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), arsenic (As), antimony (Sb) and bismuth (Bi).

Phosphoric acid speciation

Phosphate

Anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid.

Anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid.

Phosphoric acid speciation
Phosphate mine near Flaming Gorge, Utah, US, 2008
Train loaded with phosphate rock, Métlaoui, Tunisia, 2012
Sea surface phosphate from the World Ocean Atlas
Relationship of phosphate to nitrate uptake for photosynthesis in various regions of the ocean. Note that nitrate is more often limiting than phosphate. See the Redfield ratio.
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The phosphate ion has a molar mass of 94.97 g/mol, and consists of a central phosphorus atom surrounded by four oxygen atoms in a tetrahedral arrangement.

Carbon disulfide insecticide ad from the 1896 issue of The American Elevator and Grain Trade magazine

Carbon disulfide

Neurotoxic colorless volatile liquid with the formula CS2.

Neurotoxic colorless volatile liquid with the formula CS2.

Carbon disulfide insecticide ad from the 1896 issue of The American Elevator and Grain Trade magazine

Carbon disulfide is a solvent for phosphorus, sulfur, selenium, bromine, iodine, fats, resins, rubber, and asphalt.

Diamond and graphite are two allotropes of carbon: pure forms of the same element that differ in crystalline structure.

Allotropy

Property of some chemical elements to exist in two or more different forms, in the same physical state, known as allotropes of the elements.

Property of some chemical elements to exist in two or more different forms, in the same physical state, known as allotropes of the elements.

Diamond and graphite are two allotropes of carbon: pure forms of the same element that differ in crystalline structure.
Phase diagram of the actinide elements.

Other elements do not maintain distinct allotropes in different physical phases; for example, phosphorus has numerous solid allotropes, which all revert to the same P4 form when melted to the liquid state.

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Phosphorus pentoxide

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Phosphorus pentoxide is a chemical compound with molecular formula P4O10 (with its common name derived from its empirical formula, P2O5).

Artificial nuclide americium-241 emitting alpha particles inserted into a cloud chamber for visualisation

Radioactive tracer

Chemical compound in which one or more atoms have been replaced by a radionuclide so by virtue of its radioactive decay it can be used to explore the mechanism of chemical reactions by tracing the path that the radioisotope follows from reactants to products.

Chemical compound in which one or more atoms have been replaced by a radionuclide so by virtue of its radioactive decay it can be used to explore the mechanism of chemical reactions by tracing the path that the radioisotope follows from reactants to products.

Artificial nuclide americium-241 emitting alpha particles inserted into a cloud chamber for visualisation

Radioisotopes of hydrogen, carbon, phosphorus, sulfur, and iodine have been used extensively to trace the path of biochemical reactions.