Phosphorus: German Alchemist Hennig Brandt

Phosphorus was discovered by the German alchemist Hennig Brandt, in 1669. In a surely arduous process, Brandt heated and processed 50 to 60 buckets, per experiment, of urine until he isolated a substance he named ‘light-bearer’ or phosphorus. Each of these experiments could take two weeks. He would let these buckets of urine stand until they ‘bred worms’. Brandt would then boil the urine with sand, and this is how he distilled elemental phosphorus. This discovery is also notable, aside from discovering phosphorus of course, because this was the first time we had discovered an element not known to ancient peoples. Brandt, also called the last alchemist, kept it a secret, thinking he had found something that could change base metals into gold, …show more content…
It is not phosphorescent, as it’s name might suggest, instead it is chemiluminescent. The difference being that chemiluminescence is caused by a chemical reaction, in the case of phosphorus, it’s reacting with O2 in the air. Phosphorescence is where a substance emits photons it absorbed at an earlier time. White phosphorus is P4, these four phosphorus atoms are arranged in a tetrahedral form. One of the only safe ways to store white phosphorus is to store it under water, as phosphorus is only slightly soluble there, and can not spontaneously combust. White phosphorus has it’s own uses, aside from being used to create important compounds, it can be used in flares, incendiary devices, and for smoke generation. Some of it’s military applications are rather controversial, as white phosphorus munitions can cause extreme damage. Some more familiar ways one might have come in contact with white phosphorus are rat poison or …show more content…
Phosphorus is a limiting growth factor in many environments. It is important to acknowledge organic and inorganic phosphorus. Organic phosphorus is phosphorus bonded with carbon or carbon and oxygen. Inorganic phosphorus is that phosphorus that isn’t. Inorganic phosphorus isn’t terribly useful for large portions of life, so it must be changes to organic phosphorus. As previously mentioned, some phytoplankton and plants can do this. Creatures eat these phytoplankton, those creatures are eaten, and so on. This is how phosphorus moves through the biosphere. Organic phosphorus is used, in a phosphate form, for nucleotides. Nucleotides, alone, are incredibly important, as they play important parts in metabolism and are carriers of metabolic energy. When nucleotides come together, they form ribonucleic, otherwise known as RNA, and deoxyribonucleic acid which is commonly called DNA. Phosphorus can move from the biosphere through decomposition of plants and animals, or those animals leavings. This way, usually, phosphorus reenters the hydrosphere, and phosphorus can go back and forth between the hydrosphere and biosphere many times before it becomes rock once