Allotropes of phosphorus diphosphorus molecule begins to dissociate into atomic phosphorus. P nanorod polymers were isolated from CuI-P complexes using low temperature treatment. Red/brown phosphorus was shown to be stable in air for several weeks and have significantly different properties from red phosphorus. Electron microscopy showed that red/brown phosphorus forms long, parallel nanorods with a diameter between 3.4 Å and 4.7 Å. Allotropes of phosphorus Elemental phosphorus can exist in several allotropes, the most common of which are white and red solids. Solid violet and black allotropes are also known. Gaseous phosphorus exists as diphosphorus and atomic phosphorus. White phosphorus, yellow phosphorus or
Chemical element which includes a discussion of the composition of inorganic and organic bodies and is a speculative treatise on chemistry. Plato believed the elements introduced a century earlier by Empedocles were composed of small polyhedral forms: tetrahedron (fire), octahedron (air), icosahedron (water), and cube (earth). Aristotle, c. 350 BCE, also used the term "stoicheia" and added a fifth element called aether, which formed the heavens. Aristotle defined an element as: In 1661, Robert Boyle proposed his theory of corpuscularism which favoured the analysis of matter as constituted by irreducible units of matter (atoms) and, choosing to side with neither Aristotle's view