 Discovery Information
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| Who: Hennig Brand |
| When: 1669 |
| Where: Germany |
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| Name Origin
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| Greek: phos (light) and phoros (bearer). |
| "Phosphorus" in different languages. |
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| Sources
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| Due to its high reactivity, it is never found as a free element in nature. Found most often in phosphate rock, which is partly
made of apatite (Ca5(PO4)3(OH, F, Cl)).
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| Abundance
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| Universe: 7 ppm (by weight) |
| Sun: 7 ppm (by weight) |
| Carbonaceous meteorite: 1100 ppm |
| Earth's Crust: 1000 ppm |
| Seawater: |
| Atlantic surface: 1.5 x 10-3 ppm
|
| Atlantic deep: 4.2 x 10-2 ppm
|
| Pacific surface: 1.5 x 10-3 ppm
|
| Pacific deep: 8.4 x 10-2 ppm
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| Human: |
| 1.1 x 107 ppb by weight
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| 2.2 x 106 ppb by atoms
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| Uses
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| Used in the production of fertilizers, fireworks, matches, pesticides, toothpaste and detergents. White phosphrous is used
in military applications as incendiary bombs and for smoke screens. Calcium phosphate is used in the production of fine China.
|
| It an important component in steel production, in the making of phosphor bronze, and in many other related products. Red phosphorus
is essential for manufacturing matchbook strikers, flares, and, most notoriously, methamphetamine.
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| History
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| Phosphorus (Greek phosphoros was the ancient name for the planet Venus, but in Greek mythology, Hesperus and Eosphorus could
be confused with Phosphorus) was discovered by German alchemist Hennig Brand in 1669 through a preparation from urine, which
naturally contains considerable quantities of dissolved phosphates from normal metabolism. Working in Hamburg, Brand attempted
to distill some salts by evaporating urine, and in the process produced a white material that glowed in the dark and burned
brilliantly. Since that time, phosphorescence has been used to describe substances that shine in the dark without burning.
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| Phosphorus was first made commercially, for the match industry, in the 19th century, by distilling off phosphorus vapour from
precipitated phosphates heated in a retort. The precipitated phosphates were made from ground-up bones that had been de-greased
and treated with strong acids. This process became obsolete in the late 1890s when the electric arc furnace was adapted to
reduce phosphate rock.
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| Early matches used white phosphorus in their composition, which was dangerous due to its toxicity. Murders, suicides and accidental
poisonings resulted from its use. (An apocryphal tale tells of a woman attempting to murder her husband with white phosphorus
in his food, which was detected by the stew giving off luminous steam). In addition, exposure to the vapours gave match workers
a necrosis of the bones of the jaw, the infamous "phossy jaw." When a safe process for manufacturing red phosphorus was discovered,
with its far lower flammability and toxicity, laws were enacted, under a Berne Convention, requiring its adoption as a safer
alternative for match manufacture.
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| The electric furnace method allowed production to increase to the point phosphorus could be used in weapons of war. In World
War I it was used in incendiaries, smoke screens and tracer bullets. A special incendiary bullet was developed to shoot at
hydrogen filled Zeppelins over Britain (hydrogen of course being highly flammable if it can be ignited). During World War II Molotov
cocktails of benzene and phosphorus were distributed in Britain to specially selected civilians within the British Resistance
Operation, for defence; and phosphorus incendiary bombs were used in War on a large scale. Burning phosphorus is difficult
to extinguish and if it splashes onto human skin it has horrific effects (see precautions below). People covered in it were
known to commit suicide due to the torment.
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| Today phosphorus production is larger than ever, used as a precursor for various chemicals, in particular the herbicide glyphosate
sold under the brand name Roundup. Production of white phosphorus takes place at large facilities and is transported heated
in liquid form. Some major accidents have occurred during transportation, train derailments at Brownston, Nebraska and Miamisburg,
Ohio lead to large fires. The worst accident in recent times though was an environmental one in 1968 when phosphorus spilt
into the sea from a plant at Placentia Bay, Newfoundland.
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| Notes
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| Phosphorus exists in three allotropic forms: white, red, and black. The most common are red and white phosphorus. White phosphorus burns on contact with air and on exposure to heat or light.
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| Phosphorus is a key element in all known forms of life. Living cells also utilize phosphate to transport cellular energy via
adenosine triphosphate (ATP). An average person contains a little less than 1 kg of phosphorus, about three quarters of which
is present in bones and teeth in the form of apatite. Phosphate salts are used by animals to stiffen their bones.
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| Hazards
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| Just 50mg of phosphorus is considered a lethal dose. The allotrope white phosphorus should be kept under water at all times as it presents a significant fire hazard due to its extreme reactivity
to atmospheric oxygen, and it should only be manipulated with forceps since contact with skin can cause severe burns.
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