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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, 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 ]
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.
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.
The Pentagon and the White House National Security Council did not respond to requests for comment. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of using white phosphorus against ...
Following the ideas laid out by the French chemist Charles Sauria, who in 1830 invented the first phosphorus-based match by replacing the antimony sulfide in Walker's matches with white phosphorus, matches were first patented in the United States in 1836, in Massachusetts, being smaller in size and safer to use. White phosphorus was later ...