Quantitative Determination of Phosphorus in Plant Food
Using Household Chemicals
A Simple but Accurate Variation in Which Introductory Students Can Skip
the Time-Consuming Ignition and Ice Bath Precipitation of the Classic Method
Sally ~olomon,'Alan ~ee,'and Donald Bates
Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104
A quantitative analysis for the determination of phos-
phorus in plant foods is described. All the reagents used
are readily available in drugstores, supermarkets, or vari-
ety stores and thus require no special waste-disposal
methods. The procedures can bedone with very little
equipment in any building that has running water.
Like animals, plants require essential nutrients (1, 2)
supplied by fertilizers in a form that can be utilized by the
plant. The three important nutrients most likely to be
lacking in soil are primary nutrients: nitrogen, phospho-
rus,and potassium. Plant food labels display three num-
bers that indicate their percentages:
nitrogen (N)
phasphorus
. . - "
(as P?O.)
potassium (as KzO)
For example, a Common a l l - ~ u r ~ owater-soluble
se plant
food product containing
15%N 30%Pz05 15%&O
is labeled
15-30-15
to indicate
15%N 13%P 12.5%K
The phosphorous content is quoted as Pz05content even
though there is no Pz05in the plant food. Likewise the
plant foods contain no KzO. Formulations of plant foods
that were used as samples in this experiment are given in
the table.
Principles of the Analysis
Details of gravimetric schemes once included in analyti-
cal chemistry texts ( 3 , 4 ) are covered only briefly in most
modern editions.
The Precipitate
The gravimetric determination of phosphorus is based
on the precipitation of magnesium ammonium phosphate
hexahydrate from a solution that contains acid phosphate
ions, ammonium ions, and magnesium ions. The precipi-
tate forms upon slow neutralization with ammonia of a n
acidic solution of a phosphate-containing sample.
'A~thorlo whom correspondence s h o o~ be adaressed.
2S~pponea oy an Academy of App ied Sclence REAP grant.
410 Journal of Chemical Education
Composition of Plant Foods
Brand Name (N)-(p)-(K)
PLANTABBS AfricanVioletPlant Food 11-15-20
RAP-ID-GRO Plant Food
for Roses
SternsMiracle-Gro
Sterns Miracle-Gro Plant Food
Super K-GRO Plant Food
PETERS Soluble Plant Fwd 15-30-15
The MgNH4P04.6H20 does not form in acidic solution
because the concentration of phosphate is reduced by con-
version to acid phosphate.
The hydroxide needed for the neutralization must be pro-
vided by a weak base, such as ammonia, because strong
bases like NaOH would cause the precipitation of Mg(OHI2
and other undesirable compounds. An excess of ammo-
nium ion (derived from the ammonium ohosohates in the
.
plant food) encourages the formation o ~ M ~ N E ~ 6Hz0~Po~
through the common ion effect.
Although the solubility of magnesium ammonium phos-
phate increases with increasing temperature, the proce-
dure described here has been tested a t room temperature
with good results. Once filtered, the precipitate must never
be warmed because the hexahydrate begins to lose water
between 40 OC and 60 'C to form the monohydrate. (It loses
all water of hydration a t 100 T.)
A Change from the Classic Method
In classic schemes the precipitate would be converted by
ignition to the pyrophosphate MgzP~07and weighed.
Fortunately, the MgNH4P04.6Hz0 is sufficiently stable
a t room temperature to be dried and weighed, thus avoid-
ing the ignition and the difficulties associated with it.
Experimental
Equipment
Beakers, Erlenmeyer flasks, or jars can be used to dis-
solve samples and prepare solutions. One container must
be large enough (1L) to provide room for swirling or stir-
ring 500 or 600 mL of a slurry mixture.
 Other items needed are a 100-mm (top diameter) funnel
and a spatula or dull knife.
Filtering may done with fluted paper basket coffee filters
(generic brands are fine). Papers of medium filtering
speed, such as Whatman No. 40, can also be used. Cone
filter papers (such as the Melitta brand) may collapse
under the weight of the wet precipitate.
Any weighing device that can measure to the nearest
0.1 g can be used.
Chemicals
The chemicals needed
rubbing alcohol
magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts)
ammonia
are all available as household products.
.
The MgS04 7H20solution used for precipitation is pre-
pared by dissolving 10 g of Epsom saltdl00 mL water.
Each analysis requires about 150 mL of M e solution.
Water can be poured from the tap.3
Procedure
Dissolving the Sample
A sample of plant food that weighs a little more than 10 g
is weighed to the nearest 0.1 g. The plant food is then dis-
solved in 125-140 mL of tap water. Although the plant
foods are all advertised as water-soluble, they may contain
a small amount of insoluble residue. This should be re-
moved by filtering the mixture through a single coffeebas-
ket filter.
Transfer the solution to a container that holds at least
.
1L. About 150 mL of a solution of MgS04 7Hz0 is added
to the sample solution. The volume of magnesium sulfate
solution recommended is 5 mL1100 mg PzOS,.which pro-
vides a stoichiometric excess of roughly 50% for plant food
samples containing 30% P205.
The Precipitation
At this point most of the sample solutions will be too
acidic for any precipitate to form. Approximately 200 mL of
NHs(aq) is added gradually while swirling or stirring. A
white precipitate then forms. The suspension is allowed to
stand at room temperature for 15 min. before filtering.
The additional amount of precipitate that would form
durine -.
" a normal waitine oeriod (several hours) with cool-
ing in an ice bath is not enough to influence the results of
this analvsis in which the final result will contain iust
three si&ficant figures.
Handling the Precipitate
The precipitate is collwted using doubled fluted basket
coffee filters in a 100-mm funnel. Two 50-mL portions of
rubbine . .
" alcohol are added to the orecioitation flask to
gather any remaining material. Then they are poured over
the solid in the funnel to aid d ~ n aAs . soon as the alcohol
has filtered through, the fi1ter"pa;er with precipitate can
be carefullv lifted out of the funnel. Then soread it out, and
place it on"a flat surface, such as a paperplate 1ined.with
a oaoer towel. for faster drvine.
'TGe precipitate should de lift to dry overnight. Before
weiehine it. be sure that there are no l u m ~ and
s that the
solii is powdery with a texture similar to Glc. The solid is
3 ~ 1 1water used in this project came from the supply sewing thecity
of Philadelohia.
4The elgmental analysis was carried out by Micro-Analysis, Wil-
mington, DE 19808.
'The dye structures are nol available.
carefully scraped offthe filter paper, then weighed. It is not
possible to find the weight of the precipitate by subtracting
the weight of the dry filter paper. The filter paper used to
collect the precipitate will absorb the water that is not en-
tirely removed as the sample dries.
Calculations and Write-ups
From the weight of the MgNH4P04.6H20 and the per-
centwe of ~hosnhorusit contains (12.6%). the nercentaae
phos~horo"s inthe plant food sample can be caiculated-
grams MgNH4P04.6Hz0x 12.6%
%P=
grams of sample
To comnare their result with the nlant food label, students
will need to convert %P to %p20; using 0.437, the weight
fraction of phosphorus in P205(62.0 g PI142 g P2O.d.
Laboratory write-ups for students with specific instruc-
tions and an instructors guide are available from S. Solo-
mon. If possible, send a self-addressed envelope. If you
want the material on disk, send a disk (IBM or Macintosh)
with a self-addressedmailing envelope. Postage is not re-
quired.
Errors
Due to the common oractice of overformulation in which
the quantity promisedi~lower than the actual content, the
Dercentaae- of nhosnhorus
. (aqP A ) found msv be too hieh
by as much as l%.'~orexample, the of phospho-
rus (as Pz06)in 15-30-15 Plant Food is guaranteed to be
30% (at least) but is likely to be between 30 and 31% (5).
Moreover, variations in the blending process can introduce
an error estimated to be about 0.5%. Students should eval-
uate their results with this in mind and retain no more
than three significant figures.
The experimental procedure was developed by Drexel
University students, who were instructed to weigh to the
nearest 0.1 g and to use tap water, household ammonia,
and the other materials that were sunolied. Thev tested
various brands of filter paper, ammonia,.and typesof plant
food. The procedure was then tested on another class of 24
students all of whom analyzed the same lot of Miracle-Gro
Rose Food (18-24-163. The averaee result obtained bv all
24 students who carried out theUexperimentwas 24.4%
Pz05with an average deviation of 1.3%. (The standard
error of the mean was 0.33%.)
The large amount of potassium present in plant foods
could cause the formation of mixed crystals of
MgNH4P04.6H20 and MgKPO,. 6Hz0
which crystallize in similar geometric forms (6).
The %P present in pure MgNH4P04.6Hz0 is 12.6%,
compared to only 11.8%in pure MgKP04. 6Hz0. Accord-
ing to the elemental analysis4 for phosphorous in which
the white powdery solid was found to contain 12.4%P, the
precipitate formed in this procedure is likely to be mostly
ammonium. The amount of the MgKF'04 .6Hz0 that could
form can be reduced by reprecipitation: Dissolve the initial
precipitate in HC1, and then neutralize once more (3).Cat-
ions and dyess present in plant foods that could interfere
by forming insoluble precipitate are present in amounts
too small to make a difference.
Acknowledgment
We wish to acknowledge the Academy ofApplied Science
whose apprentice program sypported Alan Lee, a high
Volume 70 Number 5 May 1993 411
school student. We would also like to thank Anthony Literature Cited
Wambsgans who us to test this experiment in L s e J i 8 b w F;Ross, C.PlantPhysialogy; Wsdswo*h: Belmont, CA, 11W5.
of his laboratory courses, and Chinhyu Hur who helped us Z.S~~,,K cherni8*fwfie C O ~ , ~ ~ ; . U I , ~ B X 197,;cbpter9.
~ : B ~ ~ ~ ,
coordinate the testing. We are very grateful to all the s fie,, w,; D.~
naeniseh,E.;hwyer, ~ ~ ~ i wile,.
~4th ed.; ~ N~~~~~~
~ i ~ ~ ~
Drexel University students-nonmajors and engineering 1958: P 370.
and science students--who carried out the ex~edments 4. Fishel; R.Quontitatiue ChemizdAmlys% WB. Saundera: Philadelphia, 1961.

and helped us to refine our instructions, Michael Dobres 5. Myate eommunicaticn Y'th technical experts st S t e m Miraele.Gm, Port Washing-
ton, NY
"Om the department provided advice On & ,tz. J.: Sehenk, G. Quontitolive Analytiml Chemishy; Allm and Barn: Boston,
plant nutrients. 1974; P 53.

412 Journal of Chemical Education