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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 munitions are weapons that use one of the common allotropes of the chemical element phosphorus. White phosphorus is used in smoke , illumination , and incendiary munitions, and is commonly the burning element of tracer ammunition . [ 1 ]
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 an occurrence in the Earth's crust of about 0.1%, generally occurring as phosphate in minerals.
It can cause “excruciating burns and lifelong suffering,” a Human Rights Watch spokesperson said.
As early as the 1960s, a white phosphorus version was created under the same designation with 14.6 pounds (6.6 kg) of white phosphorus filler. Both versions were designed for employment by the M114 howitzer and the M44 Self-Propelled Howitzer for use as terrain denial (in the case of the mustard-filled versions), target-marking, and obscuration ...
Phosphorus must have been awe-inspiring to an alchemist: it was a product of man, and seeming to glow with a "life force" that did not diminish over time (and did not need re-exposure to light like the previously discovered Bologna Stone). Brand kept his discovery secret, as alchemists of the time did, and worked with the phosphorus trying ...
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.
For months, Israel has faced accusations it used white phosphorus indiscriminately on a town near the Israel-Lebanon border. The allegations were at the center of an investigation this past ...