Allotropes of phosphorous and uses of phosphorus

Elemental phosphorus is obtained by heating phosphate rock with coke and silica
in an electric furnace at about 1770 K. The phosphorus so formed is white
phosphorus.
The reaction may be represented as:

There are three principal allotropic forms of Phosphorus. These are white
phosphorus, red phosphorus and black phosphorus.
(a) White phosphorus or Yellow phosphorus
(i) It is a soft waxy solid with garlic smell.
(ii) It is poisonous in nature.
(iii) It turns yellowish on exposure to light. For this reason, it is also called yellow
phosphorus.
(iv) It is not soluble in water but soluble in carbon disulphide.
(v) It undergoes spontaneous combustion in air and produces greenish glow.
(vi) It exists as P4 molecules both in solid and vapor state. The four atoms in
P4molecule occupy the corners of regular tetrahedron as shown in Fig. 7
(b) Red Phosphorus
It is prepared by heating white phosphorus to about 540 K in an inert atmosphere
of nitrogen for several hours.

(i) It is a hard crystalline solid without any smell.

(ii) It is non-poisonous in nature.
(iii) It is insoluble in water as well as in carbon disulphide.
(iv) It is more stable and relatively less reactive.
(v) It consists of tetrahedral units of P4 linked to one another to constitute linear
chains.
(c) Black Phosphorus
It is prepared by heating white phosphorus to about 470 K under high pressure of
1200 atmospheres in inert atmosphere.
(i) It has metallic lustre.
(ii) It is most inactive form of phosphorus.
(iii) It has a layer type structure in which each layer consists of phosphorus atoms.
Some physical properties of three forms of Phosphorus are given below.
Red
Property White phosphorus Black Phosphorous
phosphorus
White, but turns yellow
Colour Dark red Black
on exposure
White, but turns yellow
Colour Dark red Black
on exposure
Waxy solid, can be cut Brittle Crystalline with
State
with knife powder greasy touch
Smell Garlic smell Odorless
Density 1.84 2.1 2.69
Ignition
307 K 533 K 673 K
temperature
Melting point 317 K Does not melt 860 K

Uses of phosphorus
Phosphorus compounds play an important role in life processes. P is an essential
constituent of animal and plant matter. It is present in bones, blood and brain of
animal body and also in living cells. Several of its compounds have also industrial
applications. The most important of these chemicals are orthophosphoric acid and
phosphatic fertilizers.