Uses:
1. Use white phosphorus to prepare high-purity phosphoric acid in industry.
2. White phosphorus is flammable to produce smoke (P4O10) and fog (P4O10 and water vapor form mist-like substances such as H3PO4). It is often used in the military to make smoke bombs and incendiary bombs.
3. Use white phosphorus to make red phosphorus (red phosphorus), phosphorus trisulfide (P4S3), organic phosphates, incendiary bombs, rodenticides, etc.
Properties:
Yellow phosphorus, also called white phosphorus, is a white to light yellow brittle waxy solid. White phosphorus is very reactive and must be stored in water. People who inhale 0.1 grams of white phosphorus will be poisoned and die. White phosphorus will transform into red phosphorus when heated to 260°C or exposed to light without air. Red phosphorus is non-toxic and does not catch fire until heated above 240°C.
Under high pressure, white phosphorus can be transformed into black phosphorus, which has a layered network structure and can conduct electricity. It is the most stable allotrope of phosphorus. If there is insufficient oxygen, white phosphorus oxidizes very slowly under humid conditions, accompanied by phosphorescence. White phosphorus is soluble in hot concentrated alkali solutions to produce phosphine and dihydrogen phosphite.
The discovery of yellow phosphorus:
The discovery of phosphorus has to start with the alchemy of the European Middle Ages. At that time, alchemy was popular. It was said that as long as you found a wise man's stone, the philosopher's stone, you could turn the stone into gold and turn ordinary lead and iron into precious gold. The alchemist is like a madman, using strange utensils and substances, chanting incantations in the dark cabin, refining in the fire, stirring in the vat, thinking day and night to find the philosopher's stone that turns stone into gold.
In 1669, a businessman named Brand H in Hamburg, Germany collected 50 barrels of human urine (urine attracted alchemists because its golden color resembled gold ), mixed it with sand and other substances to intensify heat. He did not make gold, but unexpectedly obtained a substance like white wax, which emits dazzling white light.
Although this white wax-like thing that had never been seen before was not the gold that Blunt dreamed of, the magical blue-green fire made him dance with excitement. He found that this green fire did not generate heat or ignite other substances. It was a kind of cold light. So, he named this newly discovered substance "phosphorus", which means "cold light". The Latin name of phosphorus, Phosphorum, means "cold light", its chemical symbol is P, and its English name is Phosphorus.