Periodic Table · element
Phosphorus
P · Z 15
- atomic number
- 15
- atomic mass
- 30.974
- notation
- P
- group
- 15: Nitrogen
- period
- 3
- state0c
- Solid
- state20c
- Solid
- occurrence
- Primordial
- density
- 1.823
- melting pt
- 44.2
- boiling pt
- 280
- discovered
- 1669
- abundance
- 1050
- bio class
- Bulk
- bio role
- The backbone of DNA and RNA, the P in ATP, and as hydroxylapatite most of the mineral in bone.
- ore grade
- 130000
- ore minerals
- apatite (francolite) in sedimentary phosphorite
- mined as
- Primary
extraction
Phosphate rock is strip-mined, washed and floated, then attacked with sulfuric acid to make phosphoric acid for fertiliser — the wet process — leaving mountains of phosphogypsum. Elemental phosphorus is made the hard way, by reducing rock with coke and silica in an electric furnace.
categories
#Nonmetal#Pnictogens#Polyatomic nonmetal
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