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superphosphate
Sign in to saveSuperphosphate is a chemical fertiliser first synthesised in the 1840s by reacting bones with sulfuric acid. The process was subsequently improved by reacting phosphate coprolites with sulfuric acid. Subsequently, other phosphate-rich deposits such as phosphorite were discovered and used. Soluble phosphate is an essential nutrient for all plants, and the availability of superphosphate revolutionised agricultural productivity.
Chemical data
- Formula
- CaH6O8P2+2
- Molecular weight
- 236.07 g/mol
- IUPAC name
- calcium phosphoric acid
- SMILES
- OP(=O)(O)O.OP(=O)(O)O.[Ca+2]
- InChIKey
- YYRMJZQKEFZXMX-UHFFFAOYSA-N
- Polar surface area
- 156 Ų
- H-bond donors
- 6
- H-bond acceptors
- 8
- Formal charge
- 2
via PubChem
~9 min read
Encyclopedic overview
9 sectionsContents
- History
- Agricultural significance
- Manufacture
- Formulations
- Single superphosphate
- Double superphosphate
- Triple superphosphate
- Adverse impacts of superphosphate
- References
Superphosphate is a chemical fertiliser first synthesised in the 1840s by reacting bones with sulfuric acid. The process was subsequently improved by reacting phosphate coprolites with sulfuric acid. Subsequently, other phosphate-rich deposits such as phosphorite were discovered and used. Soluble phosphate is an essential nutrient for all plants, and the availability of superphosphate revolutionised agricultural productivity.
==History== The earliest phosphate-rich fertilisers were made from guano, animal manure, or crushed bones. So valuable were these resources during the Industrial Revolution that graveyards and catacombs across Europe were pillaged for human bones to satisfy demand.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “superphosphate” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.