How was phosphorus discovered? Phosphorus Discovery History - bffwd

June 11th, 2010

The history of the discovery of chemical elements is full of personal dramas, various surprises, mysterious puzzles and amazing legends.
Sometimes a tragic finale awaits the researcher, as, for example, this happened with the discoverer of fluoride. But more often, success turned out to be a faithful companion of those who knew how to closely scrutinize natural phenomena.
Ancient tomes have preserved for us separate episodes from the lives of a retired soldier and a Hamburg merchant. His name was Hennig Brand (c. 1630-?). His merchant affairs were not brilliant, and it was for this reason that he strove to get out of poverty. She depressed him terribly. And Brand decided to try his luck in alchemy. Moreover, in the XVII century. unlike our XX century. it was considered quite possible to find a “philosopher's stone” that is capable of turning base metals into gold.

Hennig Brand and Phosphorus

Brand has already conducted many experiments with various substances, but nothing practical was obtained from him. Once he decided to conduct a chemical experiment with urine. It was evaporated almost to dryness and the remaining light yellow precipitate was mixed with coal and sand, heating in a retort without air. As a result, Brand received a new substance, which had an amazing property of glowing in the dark.
So in 1669, phosphorus was discovered, which plays an extremely important role in wildlife: in the plant world, in the body of animals and humans.
The happy scientist was not slow to take advantage of the unusual property of the new substance and began to demonstrate luminous phosphorus to noble persons for a rather high reward. Everything that came into contact with phosphorus acquired the ability to glow. It was enough to anesthetize phosphorus with fingers, hair or objects, and they flashed with a mysterious bluish-white light. Religious and mystical rich people of that time were amazed at looking at Brand’s various manipulations with this “divine” substance. He deftly used the huge interest of scientists and the general public in phosphorus and began to sell it at a price that exceeded even the cost of gold. X. Brand produced phosphorus in large quantities and kept the method of its receipt in the strictest confidence. None of the other alchemists could get into his laboratory, and therefore many of them began feverishly setting up various experiments, trying to uncover the secret of the production of phosphorus.
The famous German chemist I. Kunkel (1630-1703) advised his friend, colleague I. Kraft, to persuade X. Brand to sell the secret of phosphorus production. I. Kraft managed to persuade the discoverer for this deal for 100 talers, "however, the new owner of the secret to obtaining" eternal flame "turned out to be a self-serving person and, without saying a word to his friend I. Kunkel about acquiring a recipe, he began to make huge sums of money on phosphorus demonstrations to the public.

I. Kunkel

The outstanding German mathematician and philosopher G. Leibniz also did not miss a chance and acquired the secret of phosphorus production from X. Brand.

G. Leibniz

Soon the recipe for making “cold fire” became known to I. Kunkel and K. Kirchmeyer, and in 1680 the secret of phosphorus production was discovered in England by the famous chemist R. Boyle. After the death of R. Boyle, his German student A. Gankwitz, having improved the method for producing phosphorus, set up its production and even tried to make the first matches. He supplied phosphorus to the scientific institutions of Europe and to individuals wishing to acquire it. To expand trade relations, A. Gankwitz visited the Netherlands, France, Italy and Germany, concluding new contracts for the sale of phosphorus. In London, he founded a pharmaceutical company, which became widely known. It is curious that A. Gankwitz, despite his long work with phosphorus and very dangerous experiments with it, lived to be eighty years old. He survived his three sons and all those who took part in works related to the early history of phosphorus.
The price of phosphorus since its discovery by I. Kunkel and R. Boyle began to fall rapidly, and in the end, the heirs of the discoverers began to acquaint with the secret of obtaining phosphorus in just 10 thalers.

Phase Study Phases

In the history of chemistry, many great discoveries are associated with phosphorus. However, only a century after the discovery of phosphorus, he moved from the world of trade and profit into the world of science. But only one event over this long period can be attributed to real science, and it has been connected since 1715, when I. Gensing discovered phosphorus in the brain tissue. This later served as the basis for the statement: "Without phosphorus, there is no thought."
In 1769, Yu. Gan found phosphorus in bones, and two years later, the famous Swedish chemist showed that bones consist mainly of calcium phosphate, and proposed a method for producing phosphorus from ash generated by burning bones.
J. Proust and M. Klaprot in 1788 proved the extremely high prevalence in nature of minerals containing calcium phosphate.
Researchers have found that phosphorus glow only occurs in the presence of ordinary, i.e., moisture-containing, air. This behavior of phosphorus is due to its slow oxidation by atmospheric oxygen. At the same time, ozone is also formed, giving the air a peculiar freshness, well known to us in the days of spring thunderstorms. Glow of phosphorus occurs without noticeable heating, and this reaction is called chemiluminescence. It can be observed not only with the slow oxidation of phosphorus, but also with some other chemical and biochemical processes in which, for example, the glow of fireflies, rotten flies, oceanic plankton, etc.

M. Klaprot

In the early 70s of the XVIII century. French chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, conducting various experiments on the combustion of phosphorus and other substances in a closed vessel, convincingly proved that phosphorus is a simple body. And the air, in his opinion, has a complex composition and consists primarily of two components — oxygen and nitrogen.
At the turn of the century, in 1799, the Englishman A. Dondonald discovered that phosphorus compounds are necessary for the normal development of plant organisms. Another Englishman is J. Loos in 1839 received superphosphate for the first time - phosphoric fertilizer, which subsequently played an extremely important role in increasing crop yields.
In Russia in 1797 A.A. Musin-Pushkin received an allotropic variety of phosphorus - purple phosphorus. However, in the literature, the discovery of violet phosphorus is erroneously attributed to I. Gittorf, who, using the method of A. A. Musin-Pushkin, received it only in 1853.
In 1848, the Austrian chemist A. Schretter discovered the allotropic modification of phosphorus - red phosphorus. He obtained such phosphorus by heating white phosphorus to a temperature of about 250 ° C in an atmosphere of carbon monoxide (IV). It is interesting to note that Schretter was the first to point out the possibility of using red phosphorus in the manufacture of matches. In 1855, red phosphorus, obtained already in the factory, was demonstrated at the Paris World Exhibition.
The famous American physicist P. Bridgen in 1917, heating phosphorus to 200 ° C under a pressure of about 1.27 GPa, received a new allotropic modification - black phosphorus. Like red phosphorus, the latter does not ignite in air.
Thus, it took many decades to study the physical and chemical properties of phosphorus and the discovery of its new allotropic modifications. The study of phosphorus made it possible to find out what role it plays in the life of plants and animals. Phosphorus is found literally in all parts of green plants, which not only accumulate it for their needs, but also supply them with animals. This is one of the stages of the phosphorus cycle in nature.

Phosphorus and nature

Phosphorus in its importance is not inferior to nitrogen. He participates in the great natural cycle of substances, and, had there not been phosphorus, the flora and fauna would have been completely different. However, phosphorus is not found very often in natural conditions, mainly in the form of minerals, and it accounts for 0.08% of the mass of the earth's crust. In terms of prevalence, it occupies the thirteenth place among other elements. It is interesting to note that in the human body, phosphorus accounts for approximately 1.16%. Of these, 0.75% goes to bone tissue, about 0.25% to muscle and about 0.15% to nervous tissue.
Phosphorus is rarely found in large quantities, and in general it should be attributed to scattered elements. It has not been found in free form in nature, since it has a very important property, it is easily oxidized, but is found in many minerals, the number of which is already 190. The most important of them are fluorapatite, hydroxylapatite, phosphorite. Vivianite, monazite, amblygonite, trifilite and, in very limited quantities, xenotite and torbernite are found somewhat less frequently.

As for the phosphorus minerals, they are divided into primary and secondary. Among the primary, the most common are apatites, which are mainly rocks of igneous origin. The chemical composition of apatite is calcium phosphate, which contains a certain amount of fluoride and calcium chloride. It is this that determines the existence of the minerals fluorapatite and chlorapatite. In addition, they contain from 5 to 36% P2 05. Typically, these minerals are in most cases found in the magma zone, but they are often found in places where igneous rocks come into contact with sedimentary rocks. Of all the known phosphate deposits, the most significant are in Norway and Brazil. A large domestic apatite deposit was discovered by academician A. E. Fersman in Khibiny in 1925. “Apatite is mainly a combination of phosphoric acid and calcium,” wrote A. E. Fersman. “The appearance of this mineral is so diverse and strange that old mineralogists they called it apatite, which means “deceiver” in Greek. Either these are crystalline crystals, to the smallest detail resembling beryl or even quartz, then these are dense masses indistinguishable from simple limestone, these are radially radiant balls, or the rock is granular and shiny like coarse-grained marble. ”
Apatity as a result of weathering processes, bacterial activity, destruction by various soil acids pass into forms that are easily consumed by plants, and thus are involved in the biochemical cycle. It should be noted that phosphorus is absorbed only from the dissolved salts of phosphoric acid. However, phosphorus is partially washed out of the soil, and a large amount of it, absorbed by plants, does not return back to the soil and is carried away with the crop. All this leads to a gradual depletion of the soil. When phosphorus fertilizers are added to the soil, productivity increases.
Despite the significant demand for phosphate fertilizers, there are apparently no particular concerns associated with the depletion of raw materials reserves. These fertilizers can be obtained by complex processing of mineral raw materials, bottom marine sediments and various geological rocks rich in phosphorus.
The decomposition of phosphorus-rich compounds of organic origin often produces gaseous and liquid substances. Sometimes you can observe the evolution of gas with the smell of rotten fish, phosphorous hydrogen, or phosphine, PH3. Simultaneously with phosphine, another product is being formed - diphosphine, P2 Н4, which is a liquid. The diphosphine vapor spontaneously ignites and ignites phosphine gas. This explains the appearance of the so-called "wandering lights" in places such as cemeteries and swamps.
“Wandering lights” and other cases of luminescence of phosphorus and its compounds caused superstitious fear in many people who are not familiar with the essence of these phenomena. This is what Academician S.I. recalls working with gaseous phosphorus. Volfkovich: “Phosphorus was obtained in an electric furnace installed at Moscow University on Mokhovaya Street. Since these experiments were then conducted in our country for the first time, I did not take the precautions that are necessary when working with gaseous phosphorus - a poisonous, self-igniting and luminous bluish-colored element. For many hours at the electric furnace, part of the released gaseous phosphorus soaked my clothes and even my shoes, so that when I walked from the university at night along the dark streets of Moscow, which were not illuminated then, my clothes radiated a bluish glow, but from under my boots (when rubbing them on the sidewalk) sparks were carved.
Every time a crowd gathered behind me, among which, despite my explanations, there were many people who saw in me a “newly appeared” representative of the other world. Soon among the residents of the Mokhovaya street district and throughout Moscow, fantastic stories about a luminous monk began to be passed from mouth to mouth ... "
Phosphine and diphosphine are quite rare in nature, and more often you have to deal with phosphorus compounds such as phosphorites. These are secondary minerals-phosphates of organic origin, play a particularly important role in agriculture. On the islands of the Pacific Ocean, in Chile and Peru, they were formed on the basis of bird droppings, guano, which in dry climates accumulates in powerful layers, often exceeding a hundred meters.
The formation of phosphorites can also be associated with geological disasters, for example, with the ice age, when the death of animals was massive. Similar processes are possible in the ocean during the mass death of marine fauna. A rapid change in hydrological conditions, which may be associated with various mountain building processes, in particular with the action of underwater volcanoes, undoubtedly, in some cases, leads to the death of marine animals. Phosphorus from organic residues is partially absorbed by plants, but mainly, dissolving in sea water, passes into mineral forms. Sea water contains phosphates in fairly large quantities - 100-200 mg / m3. In certain chemical processes in seawater, phosphates can precipitate and accumulate at the bottom. And when raising the seabed in various geological periods, phosphorite deposits are on land. Similarly, a large domestic phosphorite deposit could form near Kara-Tau in Kazakhstan. Phosphorites are also found in the suburbs.

Phosphorus cycle in nature

A good explanation of the most important stages of the phosphorus cycle in nature is the words of a famous scientist, one of the founders of the Russian science of the study of phosphorus fertilizers, Y. V. Samoilov: “Phosphorus of our phosphorite deposits is of biochemical origin. From apatite, a mineral in which almost all the phosphorus of the lithosphere was originally enclosed, this element passes into the body of plants, from plants into the body of animals, which are true concentrators of phosphorus. Having passed through a series of animal bodies, phosphorus finally drops out of the biochemical cycle and returns to the mineral one. Under certain physical and geographical conditions, mass death of animal organisms occurs in the sea.

About the match
The first fire was produced by man in a very primitive way, by friction of two pieces of wood, and the wood dust and sawdust were heated so strongly that they spontaneously ignited. Ancient people knew several ways of making fire by friction: most often with a sharp wooden stick they made a quick rotation, resting it on a dry board. This method can be reproduced now, but it is not at all simple and requires tremendous effort and dexterity. Thus, man has been producing fire for many millennia.
It's amazing! If you think about this simple fact, you can see how complicated each step of a person was on the path of progress.
The wooden sticks were replaced by the famous flint. This is a very simple device: they hit a flint with a piece of steel or a pyrite and carved a sheaf of sparks, setting fire to a flammable substance.
This method, presented to us by an ancient person, was widely used during the years of World War II, when the country experienced an acute shortage of matches.
Surprisingly, only 200 years ago in Russia, and throughout the world, steel flint and a wick were almost the only “matches” of a man who managed not only to build the Egyptian pyramids, but also to create a James Watt steam engine, the first ship of Robert Fulton , looms and many other great inventions, but not matches. They were born later! The path to them was difficult and great, as was every path to the world that was still unknown to man.
The ancient Greeks and Romans knew another way of making fire, using the sun's rays focused with a lens or concave mirror. The great ancient Greek scientist Archimedes deftly used this method and set fire to, according to legend, the enemy fleet with the help of a huge mirror. But this method of producing fire is of little use because of the very limited possibilities of its use, since the sun is necessary.
The development of civilization, scientific and technological progress opened up new opportunities in various fields of human activity.
After 1700, a significant amount of means for producing fire was invented, the most interesting of which was the Deberainer incendiary apparatus, created in Iena in 1823. The inventor of the apparatus used the properties of explosive gas to ignite spontaneously in the presence of sponge platinum, i.e. finely crushed.
However, for widespread use, such a device was, of course, unsuitable.
We are getting closer to the moment when the word “match” was finally sounded for the first time. It has not yet been possible to establish who introduced this word, but work continues in this direction, and we hope that our young readers will help us in this.
Here we should throw a small bridge to phosphorus and its discoverer, the Hamburg soldier, later merchant and alchemist Hennig Brand. The new phosphorus element was flammable during friction. Researchers used this property to create matches.
Assistant and student of R. Boyle, a talented and enterprising German A. Hankwitz received pure phosphorus from phosphates and decided to make matches with sulfur coating, ignited by rubbing against a piece of phosphorus. But this first step should be improved and the matches made more convenient for widespread use.
This became possible when the famous French chemist C. Bertollet received salt - potassium chlorate KClO3, called Berthollet. His compatriot Chansel took advantage of this discovery and invented in 1805 the so-called French incendiary vehicles. Potassium chlorate, together with sulfur, tar, sugar and gum arabic, was applied to a wooden stick, and ignition occurred in contact with concentrated sulfuric acid. The reaction sometimes developed very rapidly and was explosive
The German Wagemann from Tübingen used the invention of Chansel in 1806, but added pieces of asbestos to sulfuric acid to slow down the combustion process. He soon moved to Berlin and organized the production of the so-called Berlin lighters. The factory he created was the first major incendiary device manufacturing company with over 400 employees. A similar incendiary mixture was used in Prometheus (John's matches), manufactured in 1828 in England.
In 1832, dry matches appeared in Vienna. They were invented by L. Trevani, he covered the head of a wooden straw with a mixture of bertoletova salt with sulfur and glue. If such a match is held on sandpaper, then its head ignites. But in this case, not everything turned out to be safe, sometimes the head ignited with an explosion, and this led to serious burns.
The ways of further improving the matches were very clear: you need to make such a mixture for the - match head so that it lights up calmly. Soon the problem was resolved. The new composition included Bertoletova salt, white phosphorus and glue. Matches with such a coating were easily ignited by friction against any hard surface, against glass, on the sole of a shoe, on a piece of wood.
The inventor of the first phosphoric matches was the nineteen-year-old Frenchman Charles Soria. In 1831, a young experimenter added white phosphorus to a mixture of brown water salt and sulfur to weaken its explosive properties. This idea turned out to be extremely successful, since the smudged particles obtained by the obtained composition easily ignited during friction. The ignition temperature of such matches is relatively low - 30 ° C. Young S. Soria tried to get a patent for his invention, but, unfortunately, it turned out to be much more difficult than creating the first phosphoric matches. For the patent it was necessary to make too large a sum, but S. Soria did not have that kind of money. A year later, phosphoric matches were created again by the German chemist J. Kammerer.
So, the long journey of uterine maturation of the first match ended and it was born at once in the hands of several inventors. However, fate would have liked to give the laurels of primacy to this discovery to Jacob Friedrich Kammerer (1796-1857), and 1832 to save for posterity as the year of birth of matches, the largest discovery of the 19th century, which played an important role in the history of the development of human culture.
Many sought to obtain the laurels of the discoverers of matches, but history has preserved the name of J. Cammerer for us from all applicants. The first phosphoric matches were brought to Russia from Hamburg in 1836 and were sold at a very expensive price - one ruble in silver per hundred. There are suggestions that our great poet A.S. Pushkin in the last year of his life used such phosphorus matches, working by candlelight on long winter evenings.
The youth of St. Petersburg did not slow down, of course, to flaunt phosphorus matches at balls and fashion salons, trying to keep up with Western Europe. It is a pity that A.S. Pushkin did not manage to devote a single poetic line to matches - a beautiful and very important invention, so useful and familiar now that we do not even think about the difficult fate of the appearance of matches ... It seems to us that matches have always been Next to us. But in fact, the first domestic factory for the production of matches was built in St. Petersburg only in 1837.
A little more than 150 years have passed since the inhabitants of the Russian state received the first domestic matches and, realizing the importance of this invention, they quickly launched match production.
In 1842, in one Petersburg province, there were 9 match factories, daily producing 10 million pieces of matches. The price of matches fell sharply and did not exceed 3-5 kopecks. copper for 100 pieces. The method of making matches turned out to be so simple that in Russia by the middle of the 19th century. he began to bear the character of handicrafts. So, in 1843-1844. it was found that matches in significant quantities are made at home.
They were produced in the most remote corners of Russia by enterprising peasants, thus hiding from taxes. However, the low flammability of phosphorus has led to large fires. Many villages and villages literally burned to the ground.
The culprit of these disasters was white phosphorus, which can easily ignite. During transportation, matches often caught fire from friction. Enormous fires blazed on the way of the train carts, and distraught horses with burning wagons brought a lot of trouble.
In 1848, the highest imperial decree was signed, signed by Nicholas I, which allowed the manufacture of incendiary matches only in capitals, and matches had to be packed in cans of 1000 pieces. The decree went on to say: “To pay special attention to the extreme spread of the use of incendiary matches, we deigned to see that during the fires that occurred this year, they consumed more than 1,200,000 rubles in some cities. with silver of philistine property, arsonists quite often committed their crime through matches. ”
In addition, white phosphorus is one of the most toxic substances.
Therefore, work in match factories was accompanied by a serious disease, called phosphoric necrosis, affecting the jaw, i.e. necrosis of cells, as well as severe inflammation and bleeding gums.
With the expansion of production, cases of serious poisoning among workers grew. The accidents took such catastrophic forms that in Russia in 1862 an order was issued to restrict the sale of white phosphorus.
They began to sell phosphorus only with the special permission of the local police.
Match factories were supposed to pay large taxes, and the number of enterprises began to decline. But the need for matches did not decrease, but, on the contrary, grew. Various artisanal matches appeared that spread illegally. All this led to the fact that in 1869 a new decree was issued, allowing "everywhere, both in the Empire and in the kingdom of Poland: to produce phosphoric matches for sale without any special restrictions ...".
In the second half of the XIX century. very acute was the problem of replacing white phosphorus. Many governments have come to the conclusion that making matches containing white phosphorus brings more loss than income. In most countries, the production of such matches was prohibited by law.
But a solution was found, relatively quickly it was possible to replace white phosphorus with red, discovered in 1848. Unlike white, this kind of phosphorus is completely harmless. Red phosphorus was introduced into the composition of the match mass. But expectations did not materialize. Matches lit up very badly. They did not find sales. The manufacturers who started manufacturing were ruined.
By the middle of the XIX century, many outstanding inventions had been made, and the manufacture of an ordinary match could not find a satisfactory solution.
The problem was solved in 1855 in Sweden. Safe matches were presented at the International Exhibition in Paris the same year and received a gold medal. From this moment, the so-called Swedish matches began their triumphal procession around the world. Their main feature was that they did not ignite by friction against any hard surface. The Swedish match was ignited only if it was rubbed on the side surface of the box, covered with a special mass.
Thus, the “safe fire” in Swedish matches was born out of a magnificent union of friction force and chemical reaction.
That's all, perhaps! Let’s tell you how the modern match is arranged. The mass of the match head for 60% consists of bertholite salt, as well as of combustible substances-sulfur or some metal sulfides, such as antimony sulfide. In order for the head to ignite slowly and evenly, without explosion, the so-called fillers are added to the mass - glass powder, iron (III) oxide, etc. Bonding material is glue. Bertoletova salt can be replaced by substances in large quantities containing oxygen, such as potassium dichromate.
And what does a putty of a skin consist of? Here the main component is
red phosphorus. Manganese (IV) oxide, crushed glass and glue are added to it.
Now let's see what processes occur when a match is ignited.
When the head is rubbed on the skin at the point of contact, the red phosphorus lights up thanks to the oxygen of bertholite salt. Figuratively speaking, fire is originally born in the skin. He sets fire to the head of the match. Sulfur or antimony (III) sulfide breaks out in it, again due to the oxygen of the Berthollet salt. And then the tree lights up.
Nowadays, there are many recipes for head and spread formulations. The constant components are only Bertholetan salt and red phosphorus.

But the necessary element of a match is its wooden part, or match straw. The methods of its manufacture also have a long history. For primitive poppy matches, a batter was manually cut with a knife. Now match-making machines operate sophisticated machines. The most suitable tree for the manufacture of match straws-aspen. The aspen ridge is first sanded and thoroughly cleaned. Thin wooden cloth is cut from logs on special machines. Then it splits into long thin rods. These rods are already in another machine turn into a match straw. Next, the straw enters the machines, where a match mass is applied to its end. Along with this, match straws are usually subjected to special treatment to prevent, for example, wetting.
Modern matchmaking Mishas produce hundreds of millions of matches per day.
In conclusion, let's look at the production of matches through the eyes of an economist. If we accept that each person spends an average of at least one match a day, then in order to satisfy the annual need of mankind for matches, it takes about 20 million aspen, which is almost half a million hectares of first-class aspen forest.
Isn't it expensive? And for those countries in which there is little or almost no forest left, this simply cannot be done. We tried to use cardboard instead of wooden straws. But such soft matches did not succeed. They are very inconvenient to use.
That is why all kinds of lighters are widely used - gasoline, gas, electric lighters for gas stoves, etc. And ultimately, their production will be cheaper than the manufacture of matches.
Does this mean that a match will ever become a museum exhibit? It is hard to answer this question. It can be assumed that match production may decline in the future.
At present, our country ranks first in the world in the production of matches. Modern match factories are equipped with high-performance automatic machines, which make it possible to produce I 500 000 matches per hour.
With the expansion of production, technology is being improved, new types of matches are being mastered, hunting, storm, gas and souvenir matches are produced in sets, the colorful labels of which reflect the most significant events in the life of our country.
Hunting matches differ from simple ones in that, apart from the usual
heads and straws, they have an additional coating below the head. An additional incendiary mass makes the match long-burning with a large hot flame. It burns for about 10 seconds, while a simple match is only 2-3 seconds. Such matches make it possible to light a fire in any weather.

No less curious are the storm matches. They do not have a head, but the coating of the “body” is much thicker than that of hunting matches. Their incendiary mass contains a lot of bertoletovoy salt, therefore, the ability to ignite, i.e. The sensitivity of such matches is very high. They burn for at least 10 s in any meteorological conditions, even in stormy weather at 12 points. Such matches are especially needed for fishermen and sailors.
Gas matches differ from ordinary ones in that the stick is longer. Matches with straws of 70 mm are now being produced. Such a match can light several burners at once. Adding some salts to the incendiary mass makes it possible to obtain colored fire: red, pink, blue, green, violet.
Matches are packed in boxes of various sizes, containing fifty, one hundred, two hundred and even five hundred matches. At present, match production is fully automated and this allows you to sell its products at fairly low prices. Previously, there was the expression “cheaper than matches,” which means “almost free.”
Of course, spending wood on making match straws is becoming an increasingly wasteful pleasure. Indeed, this takes hundreds of hectares of solid forest, in the economy of which almost all countries of the world are now interested, even those that still have quite large areas of forest wealth. The volumes of modern production and construction are growing so fast that the amount of wood consumed is increasing significantly every decade. Now the task of saving the forest and replacing it, where possible, with products from other raw materials, is in its entirety.
Increasingly, various items widely used in everyday life are made of plastics. In the global market over the past decade, prices for polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate, polystyrene and other materials have noticeably decreased.

Manufacture of matches and matchboxes from plastics

The issue of manufacturing matches and matchboxes from plastics for the mass consumer is currently being widely discussed. If this could be done, then a real revolution would take place in the development of the match industry. On our ecologically wounded land, it would be possible to preserve hundreds of hectares of forest, which is consumed much faster than its reserves are replenished.
However, in reality, everything is not so simple. Many plastic materials are difficult to recycle, they increasingly pollute the ocean and land. Large industrial cities are struggling to recycle waste from plastic materials, our once-clean planet is suffocating under the onslaught of synthetic waste. Naturally, matchboxes made of various polymeric materials will also be casually thrown away after using matches, as is happening now with similar products made of cardboard and wood. Then, undoubtedly, Moscow and the Moscow Region and many other cities of our long-suffering planet will dress in a new outfit from the waste of match products. This will not be the mythical dress of the king from the wonderful fairy tale of the great Andersen, but the inquisitor’s toga made by man from polymer materials for Mother Earth.
So where is the way out? How to avoid the catastrophe that lurks in the intensive distribution of plastic products? There is, of course, a way out. Artificial materials are available and are increasingly being used that, under the influence of solar radiation and acids, dissolve in the soil. These synthetic materials for the manufacture of matchboxes and matches will undoubtedly be used in the near future. Although at present such products are much more expensive than similar wood products.
The manufacture of very beautiful matchboxes made of synthetic materials requires significant investment. On external matchboxes, a pattern is extruded from plastic and phosphoric mass is applied using special machines.
Of course, over the past quarter century, the price has slightly decreased due to improvements in manufacturing technology, but still synthetic matches cannot yet compete in price with matches made of wood. Synthetic matches are produced in small batches in several countries of Western Europe. Cheaper raw materials and further equipment improvements are needed. Is it unresolvable?
Recall that just some 100 years ago, aluminum was more expensive than gold, and only thanks to the creation of a new electrochemical method for its production did it become affordable and cheap.
Obtaining synthetic material for a matchstick, capable of replacing matchsticks, which makes it possible to control the temperature and rate of combustion, is quite possible from a technical point of view when solving the issue of mass production of synthetic matches by modern industry.
At present, in Germany, Reifenhäuser uses polystyrene to make matchboxes and matches, and in France they began to make wax matches, that is, the last word is far from being said in creating an ordinary match. A vast field of activity in this area with anxieties and successes awaits the younger generation. I want to believe that we will refuse to use wood.

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Hennig Brand

The outstanding German mathematician and philosopher G. Leibniz also did not miss a chance and acquired the secret of phosphorus production from X. Brand.

(VV Sinyukov "Novel on phosphorus")

12.10.2015

The history of the discovery of phosphorus is quite fascinating and interesting. According to the main version, this substance was obtained as a result of the search for the “philosopher's stone”. With his help, one ruined merchant, Henning Brand, wanted to settle his financial difficulties. He believed that primary matter can be found in the physiological products of man. So in his experiments, starting in 1669, human urine got.

After collecting several tons of this product in the soldiers' barracks, he evaporated it for a long time, resulting in a liquid that looked like syrup. After diluting it with water again, he revealed the so-called “urine oil”. Subsequently, another distillation began to precipitate. In the course of the experiment, he found out that if it is subjected to prolonged calcination, the precipitate turns into white luminous dust.

The merchant decided that he opened an elementary fire, which could later turn into gold, so he decided to keep his discovery in the strictest confidence. He showed the powder to people exclusively for money, selling it in minimal quantities at a price often higher than gold. Brand originally named the substance. cold Fire or my firehereinafter referred to as phosphorus came from Greek words - shine and i carry.

Naturally, many tried to repeat his experience. The alchemist Kunkel persuaded his friend Kraft to buy the secret from the merchant. He succeeded, only he turned out to be much trickier, and left the recipe for making phosphorus to himself. In the future, he also traveled around the cities, showing experiments with powder exclusively for money, making a rather big fortune on this.

In England, at the same time, completely independently of all, phosphorus was discovered by the alchemist Boyle. Kraft allegedly pushed him to this invention, who arrived in London in 1677 with demonstrations. He was glad to receive and after leaving, he gave the lead to Boyle, saying that the original substance from which he extracted his phosphorus was what the human body possessed. Having examined blood, then bones, etc., Boyle's experiments led to success, he obtained a luminous element.

After his death, his fan Gankwitz continued to receive phosphorus. He somewhat improved the method and even tried to make a likeness of matches. His tumultuous activity allowed to conclude the most profitable agreements with well-known scientific institutions throughout Europe. Also, thanks to him, a pharmaceutical company was opened in London. Despite his dangerous trials of phosphorus, Gankwitz lived to be 80 years old, and safely outlived his children and many workers.

By the XVIII century, many began to engage in the production of this element. Scientist Marggraf simplified the method by adding lead chloride in the urine, Scheele first received phosphorus from animal bones and horns. Since that time, the price of phosphorus has been falling more and more every year, as the competition was constantly growing, and subsequently relatives of the inventors even began to sell the recipe.

Although the main version of the discovery is considered to be the above, there is an assumption that phosphorus was extracted back in the XII century. Allegedly, a certain scientist Behil, having overtaken urine with clay, got a certain substance. Perhaps this was already phosphorus then. There are also references from the 17th century about the Bologna stone found near Bologna, during the roasting of which it gained the ability to glow.

Phosphorus (P) is a fairly common chemical element on our planet, but despite this, it practically does not occur in nature in free form. The thing is that phosphorus has a high chemical activity and reacts with almost all chemical elements, forming one hundred and ninety minerals, the most important of which is apatite. He got his name from two Greek words - “light” and “bear”, that is, “luminiferous”. But the Latin name of this element sounds like Phosphorus. However, there is another theory according to which this chemical element got its name in honor of Phosphorus - the guardian of the Morning Star. So what is this chemical element?

Phosphorus was discovered by accident. In 1669, a Hamburg alchemist named Henning Brand dreamed of getting a philosopher's stone, which legends were already circulating in those days, and which was the main goal of the chemical experiments of many alchemists of those times. But he could not get a philosopher's stone, but he was able to isolate completely incomprehensible grains from human urine that burned very brightly and also glowed in the dark. And he was looking for gold in his urine, which, in his opinion, betrayed this golden fluid a golden color. The ancient alchemist called this new element the bearer of light. But in fact, this was the first element that alchemists were able to obtain through their experiments.

Modern science receives phosphorus in a rather simple way. Apatite phosphorites are mixed with coke and silica and, at high temperatures (plus one thousand six hundred degrees), the vapors of the obtained phosphorus are deposited in a special receiver. In total, chemists distinguish four types of phosphorus - white, red, black and metallic. All of them have completely different colors, density and other characteristics.

White phosphorus is easily cut with a knife and is very similar to the most ordinary paraffin. He very easily enters into all chemical reactions, and this begins to occur even at room temperature. In addition, this type of phosphorus glows in the dark with a pale green glow. Everything else, this phosphorus is incredibly toxic.

Yellow phosphorus is the same white phosphorus, but just not cleaned. It is highly toxic, flammable, can ignite on contact with air, it is not soluble in water. That is why for safety reasons it is transported in containers under a layer of water.

Red phosphorus is soluble only in lead and bismuth, and the activity of this element is not as high as that of its previous "brothers". It does not self-ignite in air, but fire or shock can very easily occur upon impact or friction. And most importantly, red phosphorus does not glow at all in the dark, that is, it does not possess chemoluminescence. The toxicity of this phosphorus is much lower than the rest and that is why it is used in the production of matches.

Black phosphorus is insoluble in water and organic acids. Its structure is very similar to graphite. And it is impossible to set it on fire at home. For black phosphorus to ignite, you first need to heat it in an atmosphere of pure oxygen up to four hundred degrees. At very high pressure, black phosphorus transforms into another form - metallic phosphorus, which conducts electric current very well.