Allotropes of phosphorus 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 simply tetraphosphorus (P) exists as molecules made up of four atoms in a tetrahedral structure. The tetrahedral arrangement results in ring strain and instability. The molecule is described as consisting of six single P–P bonds. Two different crystalline forms are known. The α form is defined as the standard state of the element, but is actually metastable under standard
Red-violet equal parts of magenta and red is called rose. In the use by artists, red-violet is equivalent to purple, however, although the color "purple" is inaccurately used by many people as a synonym for violet or a color close to violet, professional artists who use the RYB color wheel generally use the term "purple" to specifically refer to a pigment color that is equivalent to red-violet (i.e., the tertiary color between violet and red on the RYB color wheel) in order to give themselves a larger and more balanced palette of pigments to work with. The Munsell color system also