Talk:Phosphorus
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[edit] Oxidation States
Phosphorus can assume more oxidation states than as presented in the sidebar. +/- 1 should be included as mentioned here: [1]
Also, any chemist would know that the elemental form of an element has an oxidation state of zero. This is usually included first.
[edit] WikiProject Elements
Article changed over to new Wikipedia:WikiProject Elements format by maveric149. Elementbox converted 10:31, 23 Jun 2005 by Femto (previous revision was that of 04:14, 16 Jun 2005).
[edit] Information Sources
Some of the text in this entry was rewritten from Los Alamos National Laboratory - Phosphorus. Additional text was taken directly from the Elements database 20001107 (via dict.org), Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (via dict.org) and WordNet (r) 1.7 (via dict.org).
Data for the table was obtained from the sources listed on the main page and Wikipedia:WikiProject Elements but was reformatted and converted into SI units.
[edit] Netscape 4.7 problem
Something about this page totally blows up in Netscape 4.7x. The side bar occupies the entire screen for some reason. - Dwmyers
[edit] Phosphor redirect
Is there some special reason for redirecting phosphor to this page? If not I will change it, as in modern usage phosphors have little to do with phosphorus --Roger 12:40 UTC, 1 Sep 2003
[edit] Phosphate esters
Phosphate esters are nerve poisons
Would someone care to expand/explain that (or provide a WikiLink). IIRC, DNA contains phosphate esters, and I doubt it is a nerve poison. 128.104.118.80 15:13, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC)
[edit] Disambiguation with Phosphorus (morning star)
The element Phosphorus is one of the most typical things someone might look up in a dictionary, whereas the Greek name for a star is one of the most obscure. It is general practice to place non-significant disambiguation notices at the bottom of pages, rather than at the top where it is the first thing someone would see, due to that fact that it is unlikely in the extreme that someone looking for the obscure entry would not expect that the item they are looking for would be a mere footnote -- both figuratively and literally -- in the article in question. And by the way, the only articles that link to Phosphorus (morning star) are, in fact, Phosphorus and morning star.
Thanks, BCorr|Брайен 18:08, 22 Sep 2004 (UTC)
- Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a dictionary, but that's besides the point.
- I agree: the element phosphorus is bound to be looked up more often than Phosphorus meaning Venus and so that article should take priority (in terms of where the user is taken when they search). However, Wikipedia is not designed to be used purely by Wikipedia editors or those clued up with its conventions (nor those willing to take the time to discover them), but by anybody who wants quick and helpful access to a topic. Is such a person likely to expect to find a footnote at the bottom of the element article - I certainly don't think so. I would have thought such a person would give up at that point and look elsewhere. I don't think such a person would expect the topic they're searching for to be a footnote to something entirely different. However, if the 'dab' (is that an official term?) is at the top of this article, this certainly isn't a problem.
- I think it's poor practice - even if it is a general practice - to place disambiguation notices (I don't see why their 'significance' is a factor; either they're so insignificant they don't merit an article, or they do and hence shouldn't be hidden away) at the bottom of articles, since this makes the task of the user so much harder, whereas surely an encyclopedia should strive to make access to information as easy as possible.
- How relevant the links to the page are I'm unsure: I would have thought many people access information by entering search terms, rather than coming from a different page, and so will not have the clarification of the article's name you seem to imply.
- --Owen&rob 22:09, 22 Sep 2004 (UTC)
[edit] Poisonous
Can someone explain to me how 50mg = fatal dose if the recommended daily allowence = 800mg? [2] I assume I'm missing something... fabiform | talk 03:11, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)
- I think the toxicity depends on the chemical form (e.g., orthophosphate vs. white phosphorus). The 50mg statement really needs to be qualified. P.Riis 16:43, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)
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- 50 mg is the minimal oral lethal dose for man, of white phosphorus (the P4 allotrope); the phosphorus in food and organism is in form of phosphate (P5+, such as (PO4)3-).--84.163.116.7 22:55, 8 October 2006 (UTC)
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[edit] What is the 4th Allotrope?
"Phosphorus exists in four allotropic forms: white (or yellow), red, and black (or violet)." I make that 3. Can anyone explain please? --Dumbo1 18:26, 12 May 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Paragraph on isotopes
The paragraph about Phosphorus' isotopes looks a 'bit' inappropriate to me:
Isotopes
The springfield isotopes are the best baseball team in america, and are named the isotopes due to the nuclear power plant being in controll of them. Isotopes of phosphorus include cheesecakes and fuel economy. Also, jesse mcartney is gay and his music is pathetic.
I don't want to touch it myself since I know nothing of the subject.
--Graniitti 09:51, 31 May 2005 (UTC)
- In case of obvious recent vandalism simply look through the history and revert to an earlier good version. (done that) Femto 14:39, 31 May 2005 (UTC)
[edit] extraction of the allotropes.
i'm a lil' confused. there was a question in one of our papers saying- "HOW DO YOU SEPARATE YELLOW PHOSPHORUS FROM RED PHOSPHORUS?"
- Please sign your name.
You don't separate them; white (yellow if you prefer) is converted into red. I've started to discuss the industrial processes in the Albright and Wilson article, but its far from completed yet.Pyrotec 17:12, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- I'm not sure whether you're trying to ask how to separate a mixture of the two or how phosphorus is produced. White phosphorus is made by heating phosphates with carbon and then this can be converted to red phosphorus. If you had a mixture of the two and wanted to separate them, you could expose it to air or oxygen and the white (yellow) phosphorus would oxidize to form phosphorus pentoxide. If this mixture was then washed with water, the P4O10 would dissolve leaving you with red phosphorus. You could also try solvent extraction if you wanted to leave the white phosphorus intact. The two allotropes should have different solubilities in most solvents.--24.16.148.75 19:26, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Smoking stool syndrome
Re: citation needed - Incredibly, looks credible. There's Simon FA, Pickering LK. Acute yellow phosphorus poisoning: smoking stool syndrome. Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 235 No. 13, March 29, 1976 - Anybody got access, and expand a bit on the facts please? Femto 12:47, 25 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Yellow phosphorus
the stub lacks any mention of yellow phosphorus - this is a very blatant omission
- Please sign your name. Anyway your statement is not true: white phosphorus and yellow phosphorus are the same. Pyrotec 17:05, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Notable Characteristics
The first part of this section discusses only the properties of white phosphorus, but refers to it as "common phosphorus." This seems confusing. Any ideas on how to fix it?--24.16.148.75 19:28, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Numbers! We need numbers!
- Global demand for fertilizers led to large increases in phosphate (PO43-) production in the second half of the 20th century.
- Today phosphorus production is larger than ever
Such statements are, unfortunately, fairly useless without giving estimates for the production and use of phosphorus. That production is "larger than ever" isn't a surprise, considering the population of the world today. Did phosphorus production grow faster than that? Faster than real GDP?
RandomP 14:59, 20 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Misinformation about white phosphorus
In article, it is stated, that:
"White phosphorus glows in the dark and is highly explosive..."
that is not true; P4 is highly flammable, and self-igniting upon contact with air (pyrophoric), but not explosive, unless intimately mixed with a strong oxidizing agent (such as solid chlorate, nitrate or permanganate). Thus, I change the sentence as follows:
"White phosphorus glows in the dark, is highly flammable and pyroforic (self-igniting) upon contact with air..."--84.163.116.7 23:02, 8 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] occurence of phosphorus
At the shores of the baltic sea white phosphorous can be found. It is some times mistaken for amber and ignites in the pockets of the people collecting it. A big amount 40% of all phosphorous bombs for the rocket factory in Penemünde was thrown into the baltic sea as dubs in the big attack 1943. Is it worth mentioning? [3] [4] --Stone 15:46, 8 November 2006 (UTC)
