Phosphorus and Calcium - Comparison - Properties

This article contains comparison of key thermal and atomic properties of phosphorus and calcium, two comparable chemical elements from the periodic table. It also contains basic descriptions and applications of both elements. Phosphorus vs Calcium.

phosphorus and calcium - comparison

Compare phosphorus with another element

Compare calcium with another element

Phosphorus and Calcium – About Elements

Phosphorus

As an element, phosphorus exists in two major forms—white phosphorus and red phosphorus—but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Earth. At 0.099%, phosphorus is the most abundant pnictogen in the Earth’s crust.

Calcium

Calcium is an alkaline earth metal, it is a reactive pale yellow metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to its heavier homologues strontium and barium. It is the fifth most abundant element in Earth’s crust and the third most abundant metal, after iron and aluminium.

Phosphorus in Periodic Table

Calcium in Periodic Table

Source: www.luciteria.com

Phosphorus and Calcium – Applications

Phosphorus

Phosphorus is an essential plant nutrient (the most often limiting nutrient, after nitrogen), and the bulk of all phosphorus production is in concentrated phosphoric acids for agriculture fertilisers, containing as much as 70% to 75% P2O5. The vast majority of phosphorus compounds mined are consumed as fertilisers. Phosphate is needed to replace the phosphorus that plants remove from the soil, and its annual demand is rising nearly twice as fast as the growth of the human population. Other applications include organophosphorus compounds in detergents, pesticides, and nerve agents.

Calcium

The largest use of metallic calcium is in steelmaking, due to its strong chemical affinity for oxygen and sulfur. Its oxides and sulfides, once formed, give liquid lime aluminate and sulfide inclusions in steel which float out. Calcium compounds are used as manufacture of insecticides, paints, blackboard chalk, textile and fireworks.

Phosphorus and Calcium – Comparison in Table

Element	Phosphorus	Calcium
Density	1.823 g/cm3	1.55 g/cm3
Ultimate Tensile Strength	N/A	110 MPa
Yield Strength	N/A	N/A
Young’s Modulus of Elasticity	N/A	20 GPa
Mohs Scale	0.5	1.5
Brinell Hardness	N/A	170 – 400 MPa
Vickers Hardness	N/A	N/A
Melting Point	44.1 °C	842 °C
Boiling Point	280 °C	1484 °C
Thermal Conductivity	0.235 W/mK	200 W/mK
Thermal Expansion Coefficient	N/A	22.3 µm/mK
Specific Heat	0.77 J/g K	0.63 J/g K
Heat of Fusion	0.657 kJ/mol	8.54 kJ/mol
Heat of Vaporization	51.9 kJ/mol	153.3 kJ/mol