Periodic table what is p

Thus, element , before it was given the name "Darmstadtium" was known as ununnilium Uun , element was unununium Uuu , element is ununtrium, and so on. In some European countries, the element name is spelled "aluminium". Au comes from the Latin name, aurum , "shining dawn".

Hg comes from the Latin name, hydragyrum , "liquid silver". This element is often referred to by metallurgists and metal-producing industries as "columbium" Cb [see page on Discoverers of the Elements ].

The percentage of the world reserves located in the country with the largest reserves. A percentile rank for the political stability of the top producing country, derived from World Bank governance indicators. A percentile rank for the political stability of the country with the largest reserves, derived from World Bank governance indicators. Specific heat capacity is the amount of energy needed to change the temperature of a kilogram of a substance by 1 K. A measure of the stiffness of a substance.

It provides a measure of how difficult it is to extend a material, with a value given by the ratio of tensile strength to tensile strain.

A measure of how difficult it is to deform a material. It is given by the ratio of the shear stress to the shear strain. A measure of how difficult it is to compress a substance. It is given by the ratio of the pressure on a body to the fractional decrease in volume.

A measure of the propensity of a substance to evaporate. It is defined as the equilibrium pressure exerted by the gas produced above a substance in a closed system. This Site has been carefully prepared for your visit, and we ask you to honour and agree to the following terms and conditions when using this Site. Copyright of and ownership in the Images reside with Murray Robertson. The RSC has been granted the sole and exclusive right and licence to produce, publish and further license the Images.

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Nor shall the RSC be in any event liable for any damage to your computer equipment or software which may occur on account of your access to or use of the Site, or your downloading of materials, data, text, software, or images from the Site, whether caused by a virus, bug or otherwise. Jump to main content. Periodic Table. Glossary Allotropes Some elements exist in several different structural forms, called allotropes. Discovery date Discovered by Hennig Brandt Origin of the name The name is derived from the Greek 'phosphoros', meaning bringer of light.

Glossary Group A vertical column in the periodic table. Fact box. Group 15 Melting point Glossary Image explanation Murray Robertson is the artist behind the images which make up Visual Elements. Appearance The description of the element in its natural form. Biological role The role of the element in humans, animals and plants. Natural abundance Where the element is most commonly found in nature, and how it is sourced commercially.

Uses and properties. Image explanation. The image is of a ball-and-stick model of white phosphorus. It has a tetrahedral shape and has the formula P 4. The two main forms of phosphorus are white phosphorus and red phosphorus. White phosphorus is a poisonous waxy solid and contact with skin can cause severe burns. It glows in the dark and is spontaneously flammable when exposed to air.

Red phosphorus is an amorphous non-toxic solid. White phosphorus is used in flares and incendiary devices. Red phosphorus is in the material stuck on the side of matchboxes, used to strike safety matches against to light them.

By far the largest use of phosphorus compounds is for fertilisers. Ammonium phosphate is made from phosphate ores. The ores are first converted into phosphoric acids before being made into ammonium phosphate. Phosphorus is also important in the production of steel. Phosphates are ingredients in some detergents, but are beginning to be phased out in some countries. This is because they can lead to high phosphate levels in natural water supplies causing unwanted algae to grow.

Phosphates are also used in the production of special glasses and fine chinaware. Biological role. Phosphorus is essential to all living things. It is important for energy transfer in cells as part of ATP adenosine triphosphate , and is found in many other biologically important molecules. We take in about 1 gram of phosphate a day, and store about grams in our bodies, since our bones and teeth are mainly calcium phosphate.

Over-use of phosphates from fertilisers and detergents can cause them to pollute rivers and lakes causing algae to grow rapidly. The algae block out light stopping further photosynthesis. Oxygen dissolved in the water soon gets used up and the lake dies.

Natural abundance. Phosphorus is not found uncombined in nature, but is widely found in compounds in minerals. An important source is phosphate rock, which contains the apatite minerals and is found in large quantities in the USA and elsewhere. White phosphorus is manufactured industrially by heating phosphate rock in the presence of carbon and silica in a furnace.

This produces phosphorus as a vapour, which is then collected under water. Help text not available for this section currently. Elements and Periodic Table History. Phosphorus was first made by Hennig Brandt at Hamburg in when he evaporated urine and heated the residue until it was red hot, whereupon phosphorus vapour distilled which he collected by condensing it in water.

When he ran out of money, he sold phosphorus to Daniel Kraft who exhibited it around Europe including London where Robert Boyle was fascinated by it. He discovered how it was produced and investigated it systematically. His assistant Ambrose Godfrey set up his own business making and selling phosphorus and became rich. When it was realised that bone was calcium phosphate, and could be used to make phosphorus, and it became more widely available.

Demand from match manufacturers in the s ensured a ready market. Atomic data. Bond enthalpies. Glossary Common oxidation states The oxidation state of an atom is a measure of the degree of oxidation of an atom. Oxidation states and isotopes. Glossary Data for this section been provided by the British Geological Survey. Relative supply risk An integrated supply risk index from 1 very low risk to 10 very high risk.

Recycling rate The percentage of a commodity which is recycled. Substitutability The availability of suitable substitutes for a given commodity. Reserve distribution The percentage of the world reserves located in the country with the largest reserves. Political stability of top producer A percentile rank for the political stability of the top producing country, derived from World Bank governance indicators.

Political stability of top reserve holder A percentile rank for the political stability of the country with the largest reserves, derived from World Bank governance indicators. Supply risk. Young's modulus A measure of the stiffness of a substance. Shear modulus A measure of how difficult it is to deform a material.

Bulk modulus A measure of how difficult it is to compress a substance. Vapour pressure A measure of the propensity of a substance to evaporate. Pressure and temperature data — advanced. Listen to Phosphorus Podcast Transcript :. You're listening to Chemistry in its element brought to you by Chemistry World , the magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Hello - this week fertilisers, fire bombs, phossy jaw and food additives.

What's the connection? Here's Nina Notman. Phosphorus is a non-metal that sits just below nitrogen in group 15 of the periodic table. This element exists in several forms, of which white and red are the best known. White phosphorus is definitely the more exciting of the two.

As it glows in the dark, is dangerously flammable in the air above 30 degrees, and is a deadly poison. Red phosphorus however has none of these fascinating properties. So where did it all begin? Phosphorus was first made by Hennig Brandt in Hamburg in Germany in When he evaporated urine and heated the residue until it was red hot. Glowing phosphorus vapour came off and he condensed it under water. And for more than years most phosphorus was made this way.

This was until people realised that bone was a great source of phosphorus. Bone can be dissolved in sulfuric acid to form phosphoric acid, which is then heated with charcoal to form white phosphorus. White phosphorus has found a range of rather nasty applications in warfare. It was used in the 20 th century in tracer bullets, fire bombs, and smoke grenades. The scattering of phosphorus fire bombs over cities in World War II caused widespread death and destruction.

In July , Hamburg was subject to several air raids in which 25, phosphorus bombs were dropped over vast areas of the city. This is rather ironically considering where phosphorus was first made. Another group of warfare agents based on phosphorus are nerve gases such as sarin. Sarin is a fluorinated phosphonate that was used by Iraq against Iran in the early to mids.

And was also released in a Tokyo subway in , killing 12 people and harming nearly a thousand others. White phosphorus has also found a wide range of other uses. One of these was in phosphorus matches that were first sold in Stockton-on-Tees in the UK in This created a whole new industry of cheap lights - but at a terrible cost. Breathing in phosphorus vapour led to the industrial disease phossy jaw, which slowly ate away the jaw bone.

This condition particularly afflicted the girls who made phosphorus matches. So these were eventually banned in the early s and were replaced by modern matches which use either phosphorus sulfide or red phosphorus. As well as in matches, today phosphorus has found other uses in lighting. Magnesium phosphide is the basis of self-igniting warning flares used at sea. When it reacts with water it forms the spontaneously flammable gas, diphosphine which triggers the lighting of the flare.

Super pure phosphorus is also used to make light emitting diodes. These LEDs contain metal phosphides such as those of gallium and indium. In the natural world the elemental form of phosphorus is never encountered. It is only seen as phosphate, and phosphate is essential to life for numerous reasons. It is part of DNA, and also constitutes a huge proportion of teeth enamel and bones in the form of calcium phosphate.

Organophosphates are also important, such as the energy molecule ATP and the phospholipids of cell membranes. A normal diet provides our bodies with the phosphate it needs. With tuna, chicken, eggs and cheese having lots. And even cola provide us with some, in the form of phosphoric acid.