Question

Phosphorus undergoes slow combustion and glows in the dark. This process is called:
a.) Photochemical change
b.) Chemiluminescence
c.) Fluorescence
d.) Phosphorescence

Answer 1

The atomic number of phosphorus is 15 and the chemical symbol for phosphorus is P. The chemical symbol for an element is usually two letters long. The first letter of every chemical symbol is a capital letter and the second letter is a small letter.

Complete step by step answer:
- Phosphorus undergoes slow combustion and glows in the dark. This process is called phosphorescence. A phosphorescent material does not re-emit the radiation which is absorbed. The process is slow due to the forbidden energy state transitions in quantum mechanics. The transition occurs very slowly in many materials, after that they absorb the material and re-emit the light at lower intensity.
- The common examples of the phosphorescence material are dark toys and paints and the clock dials etc. phosphorus exhibits this property. The correct option is option “D” .

Additional Information . The chemical symbol is used to represent an atom or an element. The chemical symbol of an element usually consists of one or two letters from the Latin alphabet and the first letter is always capital. There are many sources from which the symbols are derived, it includes Greek name of an element or German name etc. For example: the symbol for lead is Pb and it is derived from the Latin name of lead with is plumbum, the symbol for tungsten is W and it is derived from the German name of tungsten which is Wolfram etc.

Note: In addition to the symbol of an element additional details are added to the symbol as superscripts or subscripts. It includes the atomic number, mass number or sometimes the charge on the element.