Phosphorus “There’s no better way to brighten your day!” By: Cameron Bayne

“ Facts ” Atomic Symbol Atomic Weight Atomic Number Melting Point Normal Phase Boiling Point Classification Cost P g/mole degrees C Solid 277. degrees C Nonmetal 4$ per 100g

History Phosphorus was discovered in 1669 by a German man named Henning Brand. He saw when he discovered it that it would glow in the dark, this glow would not be fully explained until 1974 The word Phosphorus comes from the Greek word “phos” meaning light and “phoros” meaning bearer.

“Pee, it’s powerful stuff” When Henning Brand did manage to disvover it in 1669, he did so by distilling human urine, he was actually trying to get salts from the urine but what he ended up with was the large quantities of phosphates in our urine from normal metabolism.

“Did You Know?” Phosphorus is an essential element for all living cells, it is actually a component of DNA and RNA, yes you need my element to live, vote for it.

“Phosphorus, cops, and meth…..Oh My” Phosphorus has the ability to reduce elemental iodine into hydroiodic acid, which is a reagent for reducing pseudoephedrine to methamphetamine. This ability gave it the right to be called a “list 1 precursor chemical” and now its handlers follow strict regulations in accordance with the controlled substances act.

“Phosphorus Industry and You” Today there are many things that P is used for, mainly fertilizers and pesticides in the civilian world, but in the military world, it is used for nerve agents and explosives, phosphorus has an absolutely devastating effect on the human skin making it a nasty weapon when used in the field.

“Toxic” Phosphorus can be put into organic compounds that can create some of the most deadly neurotoxins known, that is why it is used in making nerve agents, it is extremely poisonous.

“Not A Pretty substance” In the early days, people who handled phosphorus regularly would sometimes develop facial deformations in the jaw because of over exposure, they even stopped using it in matches because people would use it to poison other people by scraping it of the match tips.

“It’s a love, hate thing” Even though big P has so many bad things going for it, we need it for survival, it’s a must all cell life depends on it, and we use it to grow food and stuff like that, so its important, Love it!

“The End” Thank You For Watching