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Phosphorus

Chemistry of elements

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40 views4 pages

Phosphorus

Chemistry of elements

Uploaded by

emmangoutum
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Page 1 of 4 MODULE II.

MATTER, PROPERTIES AND TRANSFORMATION

PHOSPHORUS
Phosphorus is a non-metal found in group V of the periodic table. Its atomic number is 15 and its electronic
configuration is 2:8:5.

OCCURRENCE

Phosphorus is too reactive and is never found free in nature. It occurs in the combined state as rock
phosphate, which contains largely calcium phosphate [ ]. It also occur combined in bones and teeth
of animals.

THE EXTRACTION OF PHOSPHORUS

Phosphorus is obtained by heating a mixture of sand, coke and calcium phosphate in an electric furnace to a
temperature of about 1500 .

- The non-volatile silicon dioxide in the sand displaces the volatile phosphorus (V) oxide from calcium
phosphate.
→

- The phosphorus (V) oxide is then reduced by coke to phosphorus vapour.


→
Water is then used to condense the phosphorus vapour of liquid, which is further cooled and compressed
to obtain solid phosphorus. The carbon monoxide obtained during the process is used as a fuel.
DIAGRAM

ALLOTROPES OF PHOSPHORUS

Phosphorus exists in three allotropic forms which are:

- White (or yellow) phosphorus.


- Red phosphorus.
- Black phosphorus.

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Page 2 of 4 MODULE II. MATTER, PROPERTIES AND TRANSFORMATION
1. White phosphorus: It is an unstable allotrope of phosphorus. It exists as tetraatomic molecules ( ) in
which each atom of phosphorus is covalently bonded to three others to produce a tetrahedral structure as
shown below.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF WHITE PHOSPHORUS

- It is a white, waxy and translucent solid which turns yellow on exposure to light due to partial conversion
to red phosphorus.
- It is denser than water.
- It is insoluble in water but soluble in carbon disulphide and benzene.
- It gives off a very poisonous vapour and melts at 44 .
- It ignites (catches fire) at 35 . Hence it burns spontaneously in air. This makes it very difficult to be
handled with bare hands. It is always stored under water.

Remark: When exposed to air, white phosphorus gives a greenish glow as it is oxidized by the oxygen of the
air. This is referred to as phosphorescence.

2. Red phosphorus: It is obtained when white phosphorus is heated to a temperature of about 250 in the
absence of air an in the presence of a small amount of iodine or sulphur as a catalyst.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF RED PHOSPHORUS


- It is an opaque red solid.
- It is denser than white phosphorus.
- It ignites at 250 and as such safer to handle with bare hands. It does not catch fire so readily in the air.
- It is insoluble in water and carbon disulphide.
- It is more stable than white phosphorus.
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Page 3 of 4 MODULE II. MATTER, PROPERTIES AND TRANSFORMATION
- It does not glow in air like white phosphorus.
- In the absence of air it sublimes at 290 .
- Its vapour solidifies when cooled forming white phosphorus.

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF PHOSPHORUS

Both white and red phosphorus have similar chemical properties because they are both forms of the same
element. However, white phosphorus reacts much more readily that red phosphorus.

Phosphorus exhibits two valencies of 3 and 5 in its compounds.

- Reaction with air: Phosphorus reacts vigorously in air with a dazzling flame i.e. it smoulders in air, forming
oxides:

In a plentiful supply of air, phosphorus (V) oxide is formed.

In a limited supply of air, phosphorus (III) oxide is formed.

- Reaction with chlorine: Phosphorus reacts spontaneously with chlorine to form phosphorus (III) chloride
when chlorine in limited in supply.

When chlorine is plentiful in supply, phosphorus (V) chloride is formed.

- As a reducing agent: White phosphorus reacts with hot solutions of the caustic alkalis and phosphine is
liberated, e.g.

→ ⏟ ⏟

USES OF PHOSPHORUS

- It is used to make bombs and fireworks.


- It s used in the manufacture of matches.
- It is used to manufacture weed killers, rat-poison and insecticides.
- It is use in the manufacture of fertilizers like superphosphate, ammonium phosphate and triple phosphate
[ ].

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Page 4 of 4 MODULE II. MATTER, PROPERTIES AND TRANSFORMATION
Superphosphate is manufactured by reacting concentrated sulphuric acid with calcium phosphate from
rock phosphate.
→ ⏟

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