What Is Phosphorus?
QUICK ANSWER
Phosphorus is a chemical element with atomic number 15 and the symbol P. It's a highly reactive nonmetal that exists in several different forms or allotropes, the most common being white and red phosphorus. Phosphorus is essential to all known life as a key component of DNA, RNA, and ATP.
Phosphorus is the element behind glowing matches, fertilizer that feeds the world, and the DNA in every cell of your body. It was discovered accidentally by an alchemist boiling down urine in 1669, making it the first element discovered through chemistry rather than just observation. Today phosphorus is critical to both agriculture and biology, and there's growing concern about long-term supplies running out.
Where is phosphorus on the periodic table?
Phosphorus has atomic number 15, the symbol P, and sits in group 15 of the periodic table alongside nitrogen, arsenic, and antimony. Its atomic mass is about 30.97. Phosphorus has one stable isotope, P-31, plus several radioactive isotopes used in medical imaging and research. It was discovered in 1669 by Hennig Brand, a German alchemist who was searching for the philosopher's stone by boiling down large quantities of urine. The element he isolated glowed in the dark, which is how it got its name from the Greek word for 'light-bearer.'
What are the forms of phosphorus?
Phosphorus exists in several allotropes with dramatically different properties. White phosphorus is highly reactive, glows in the dark from slow oxidation, ignites spontaneously in air above 30°C, and is extremely toxic. Red phosphorus is much less reactive, stable in air, and used in match strikers and pyrotechnics. Black phosphorus is the most thermodynamically stable form, with a layered structure similar to graphite, and has recently attracted interest as a semiconductor material. Violet phosphorus, also called Hittorf's phosphorus, is another less common form.
What is phosphorus used for?
The vast majority of mined phosphorus, about 80%, goes into fertilizers as phosphate compounds, which are essential nutrients for crop growth. Detergents historically used phosphates, though many countries have restricted this due to water pollution. Phosphorus compounds are used in flame retardants, food additives, water treatment, and animal feed. Red phosphorus is in match strikers. Phosphorus is also used to make steel and other metals, and to dope semiconductors for electronics. Bone china, dental products, and certain medicines all contain phosphorus compounds.
Why is phosphorus essential to life?
Every living cell needs phosphorus. DNA and RNA use phosphorus in their sugar-phosphate backbones, the structural support that holds genetic information together. ATP, the energy currency of cells, contains phosphorus in its phosphate groups. Bones and teeth in vertebrates are largely calcium phosphate. Phospholipids form the membranes of all cells. Without phosphorus, no known form of life could exist, which is why scientists searching for extraterrestrial life look for phosphorus alongside carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen as essential elements for any possible biology.
Phosphorus does the work of life and the work of agriculture in roughly equal measures. The element discovered in a 17th-century alchemist's boiling pot of urine now feeds billions of people and forms the backbone of every gene in every living thing.
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