document_title: List of Homestuck characters

question_text: when do the trolls first appear in homestuck

text: List of Homestuck characters

text: Kids[edit]

text: The first few acts of Homestuck centers around four 13-year-old children. Early pages of Homestuck were experiments in "fan-sourced storytelling", where Hussie allowed readers of Homestuck to name its characters and make story suggestions. The main characters of Homestuck were all named by fans.[3] The four main characters are presented as internet friends who have technically never met one another, but interact through an online chat application.[4][5]

text: John Egbert is the main protagonist of Homestuck and the first character that is introduced. He is portrayed as a loyal "leader" of the group of kids, despite also being described as a "stereotypical mischief-making teen."[6] Described by blogger Subdee as a "shoujo heroine", John's character is notably fond of bad films and has a seemingly irrational revulsion to the Betty Crocker brand.[7]

text: Rose Lalonde is portrayed as an "intellectual", both through her obsession of Lovecraftian literature and through her organizing and planning the group's movement during the story. Besides having an interest in magic, the character enjoys knitting and uses her knitting needles as her go-to weapons.[6] Rose forms a same-gendered relationship with Kanaya Maryam during Homestuck's run.

text: Dave Strider is a boy "so cool he only appreciates things ironically." He copied this behavior from his older brother, who he assumes collects puppets and katanas on an ironic level.[8] Dave has been described as "smart-cynical" and is John's best friend. Surrounded by bad video games and junk food,[7] he wears aviator sunglasses, obscuring his eyes entirely, and wields katanas into combat situations.[9]

text: Dave is the fictional creator of Hussie's spin-off webcomic Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff, in-jokes of which are featured frequently in Homestuck. Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff is intentionally poorly made, featuring unsteady lines, liberal use of the spray-paint tool, and the unpopular font Comic Sans.[8]

text: First shown on-screen during Homestuck's third act, Shaenon Garrity described Jade as "the most recalcitrant" of the four kids.[10] Jade Harley lives on a remote island together with her dog, who has "infinite dimensional powers". As she can see the future through her dreams, Jade was the one who encouraged the other three kids to play the fictional video game SBURB and therefore set the plot in motion.[6]

text: Trolls[edit]

text: In the fifth "act" of Homestuck, Hussie introduced an alien species called "trolls", based on internet trolls. While the first few acts of Homestuck focused on a more realistic theme of what it is like for a group of kids to be friends on the internet, the trolls took on more explicit representations of facets of Internet culture. Hussie stated that each troll represents a kind of internet behavior that is "marginalized or controversial, or something most people just want nothing to do with." Homestuck aims to normalize and humanize internet cultures that are usually disfavored and rejected.[5]

text: Trolls chat with unique typing quirks, inserting clues concerning the speaker's identity in their chat patterns. For example, Vriska, a troll with spider-like attributes, replaces the letter "B" with the number "8" and uses emoticons with eight eyes.[11] Troll culture features a complex system of romance featuring four "quadrants", that was specifically designed to encourage shipping among Homestuck fans.[5] Homestuck trolls are by default bi- or pansexual; this normalization has been described by a fan as "incredible for all the bi and gay kids out there ... seeing loads of couples that don’t think twice about how they’re dating somebody of the same gender of themselves."[12]

text: The names of the twelve trolls were also suggested by Homestuck readers, but they were the last instance of user input, as Homestuck's readership had expanded significantly at this point.[13] In an interview with Comics Alliance, Hussie remembered how "the moment it went crazy was really unmistakable ... it was when I brought the trolls into the picture," saying that Homestuck became a "contagious phenomenon" about halfway through the sub-arc introducing the characters.[5]

text: Portrayed as a powerful psychic, Aradia is responsible for recovering the code for the Troll-version of SBURB from some ruins. She is a burgundy blood, the lowest ranking blood color on the hemospectrum with the shortest lifespan of all trolls but the most likely to have psychic powers. Her star sign is Aries. She used to enjoy archaeology, but has mysteriously lost interest in everything she used to enjoy. This happened on the night she lost her Lusus and began to hear 'the voices of the dead' more clearly, and is eventually revealed to have made her a ghost.[14][15]

text: Tavros, who uses a wheelchair, deals with self-esteem issues throughout his character-arc. He is a bronze blood and is shown to have an interest in fantasy stories, notably Pupa Pan, the Alternian equivalent of Peter Pan,[16] and also has the ability to talk to animals. His star sign is Taurus. Tavros' ancestral figure, Rufioh, was inspired by the character Rufio from the 1991 film Hook. Dante Basco, who played Rufio in Hook, started reading Homestuck because his character made an appearance in it, and he later stated that Tavros is his favorite Homestuck character because of his relation to Rufioh. Rufioh's typing quirks and personality are based on those of Basco.[17]

text: Sollux is a computer programmer whose personality is associated with ideas of duality, due to his star sign being Gemini.[18] Sollux is a mustard blood, a caste known for great psychic power. Sollux has the ability to talk to the recently deceased,[19] who inform him that Alternia will be annihilated. He also claims that he is destined to go blind before dying,[20] a claim which later proves to be true.

text: Karkat is the de facto "leader" of the troll team, with his introduction in Act 5 mirroring that of John at the start of the webcomic. His star sign is Cancer. He is easily tempered, loud, and often rude, but has a strong sense of justice, and is good at heart. His blood colour is candy-red, which is considered a mutant colour on Alternia, giving him the unshakeable fear of persecution, causing him to be self-conscious and leading him to believe that hiding his blood colour would be for the best.

text: Nepeta is an olive blood, considered the "middle class" of the hemospectrum. She lives in a cave with her lusus, and is known for acting like a cat, linking to her star sign Leo. She embodies an interest in both furries and shipping, a combination Hussie described as "for the sake of efficiency."[5] She is also Equius' moirail, helping to pacify his aggressive tendencies, and has a crush on Karkat.

text: Kanaya is a jade blood. She has a great interest in fashion, and is thematically strongly influenced by the virgin Mary, hence her star sign being Virgo, with her taking on a motherly role towards the other trolls, particularly Karkat. She becomes a vampire (referred to as a rainbow drinker amongst the trolls) during the course of the story. Kanaya's romantic relationship with Rose Lalonde is one of the most popular canon same-sex relationships in the webcomic.[12]

text: Terezi guides Dave through the earlier acts of Homestuck. The character is blind and able to visualize the world through her sense of smell and taste.[21] She is teal-blooded and portrayed as an avid role-player and has a strong sense of justice[6][21], hence her star sign being Libra, represented by the scales. Terezi was the first of three Homestuck character to be introduced in Namco Bandai's dating simulator Namco High, of which Andrew Hussie was the creative director.[22]

text: Vriska is cerulean-blooded and takes on the role of anti-hero in Homestuck.[12] Being raised by a giant spider, Vriska uses a spider-themed typing quirk and aspires to be a pirate. Her weapon is a set of legendary eight-sided dice, which, depending on what they roll, can cause devastating attacks. Her star sign is Scorpio. The character is described as "ruthless, manipulative [and] powerful", and was considered among the "most hardcore" eyepatch-wearing fictional characters by The Mary Sue.[23]

text: Equius is presented as an indigo-blooded robotics expert with an unnatural amount of strength. Despite his thorough belief in Troll-culture's hemocaste system, he has an unhealthily obsessive adoration for Aradia Megido, who is of the lowest of the twelve castes. His star sign is Sagittarius, and he is Nepeta’s moirail, a companion who is seen as a platonic soulmate and helps pacify their more aggressive tendencies.[24]

text: Gamzee is a troll of the purple caste with strong ties to his religious faith, referred to as the "Cult of the Mirthful Messiahs". This religion is similar to that of the Juggalo: he has an obsession with Faygo and believes firmly in miracles and the coming of the Dark Carnival.[6] His star sign is Capricorn.

text: Eridan is shown as an aristocrat with a genocidal superiority complex.[25] He has a strong desire to kill all land-dwelling Trolls and had commissioned a doomsday device from Vriska to that effect.[26] He is a violet blood, making him part of the two castes that make up the sea-dwellers, a sub-race of trolls "distinct from the commoners by mutation and habitat", as it is put in his introductory page[25], which relates to his star sign Aquarius.

text: A sea-dweller like Eridan, as well as his moirail. Her star sign is Pisces. Feferi is the heir apparent for Alternian rulership, which puts her at risk from Her Imperious Condescension, the Empress of Alternia, who would make an attempt on her life if it weren't for her lusus' protection.[27] She is fuchsia-blooded, the highest ranking blood caste, being that of royalty, but is shown to be much more passive than other high bloods, wanting to coddle low bloods rather than "culling" them.[27]

text: Other characters[edit]

text: Other characters featured in Homestuck include another group of four kids (named Jane, Jake, Roxy, and Dirk), as well as another group of twelve trolls, the nearly-all-powerful antagonist Lord English,[28] a "wayward vagabond" whose story is told in the Earth's post-apocalyptic future,[10] and a pair of "diametrically opposed twins living inside the same body" named Calliope and Caliborn (the latter who becomes Lord English). Andrew Hussie also inserted himself into Homestuck's story as a character, where he offers detailed summaries and ends up in "bizarre in-world encounters."[3] After Ryan North asked why "MS Paint Adventures" doesn't follow the adventures of a "Ms. Paint", Hussie included a minor character to Homestuck with that name.[29]

text: Late in the webcomic, Hussie introduced Davepetasprite^2, a fusion of the characters Dave Strider and Nepeta Leijon. The character is notable for having had a short-lived crisis with regards to their gender identity, but was quickly defined as non-binary.[12]

text: Analysis[edit]

text: According to Lilian Min of The Atlantic, Homestuck's greatest strength is Andrew Hussie's "gift for character-building", and that the characters are unique and "strangely relatable".[3] Elliott Dunstan of Monkeys Fighting Robots said that "the sheer number of characters and possible interactions can get overwhelming", and that each fan ends up with a favorite castmember.[30] The characters of Homestuck are particularly popular among cosplayers,[31] with cosplay events such as San Diegostuck being held for Homestuck cosplay specifically.[32]

text: Mary Kinney of the New York University wrote that Homestuck, which is heavily stylized as an adventure game, features an "implied character" as the player. This "nebulous" actor changes the Homestuck world. For example, on the first page of the webcomic, the player is prompted to enter the protagonist's name. After clicking to go to the following page, the reader's sense of control dissipates as they are not actually allowed to enter a name. The relationship between the player and the reader of the story fluctuates from page to page, and the player character may switch from avatar to avatar. In this way, the reader experiences Homestuck's narrative through the experiences of various characters.[4]

text: In an interview with The Daily Dot, Homestuck guest artist Shelby Cragg praised Hussie's webcomic for its 50/50 gender ratio and large number of well-written female characters.[33] Creatrix Tiara of Autostraddle noted that Hussie was highly successful with creating a diverse LGBT cast, by writing the characters in a "realistic, non-fetishistic manner." A large number of LGBT readers have stated to have been strongly affected by the representation of diverse sexualities and gender identities in the webcomic.[12]

text: Characters and death[edit]

text: Characters frequently die within the plot of Homestuck, which Andrew Hussie described as a necessity of a story with such a large cast. Though Hussie used death as "the line between relevance and irrelevance", characters generally remain relevant in some way in the story, as there exist various video game-style constructs that allow a character to be revived.[34] Rebecca Peterson of The Martlet described how "characters are gleefully killed off, brought back, and killed again" in a manner that makes it difficult to follow which characters are still alive. Characters may even have multiple versions of themselves active in the story simultaneously, both dead and alive.[35] In an interview with Big Shiny Robot, Hussie said the following on this topic:

text: [Homestuck] seems to combine all the meaningless deaths of a trial-and-error game journey with the way death is treated dramatically in other media, where unlike [the] oblivious Mario, the characters are aware and afraid of the many deaths they must experience before finally winning the game.

text: Death is presented as a "leveling up step" for the characters in Homestuck, it being the only way for characters to gain God Tier powers. According to Autostraddle, many characters reach a greater importance after their death, as they can contribute to the story as ghosts or helper sprites. Many readers of the webcomic see this implementation of death as a subversion of the "bury your gays"-trope, as homosexual characters frequently get killed off in American media.[12]


document_title: Phosphorus

question_text: a pale green mineral the major source of phosphorus

question_tokens: a pale green mineral the major source of phosphorus

root

text: Phosphorus

text: Characteristics

text: Allotropes

text: Phosphorus has several allotropes that exhibit strikingly different properties.[6] The two most common allotropes are white phosphorus and red phosphorus.[7]

tag: p

text:
From the perspective of applications and chemical literature, the most important form of elemental phosphorus is white phosphorus, often abbreviated as WP. It is a soft and waxy solid which consists of tetrahedral P
4 molecules, in which each atom is bound to the other three atoms by a single bond. This P
4 tetrahedron is also present in liquid and gaseous phosphorus up to the temperature of 800 °C (1,470 °F) when it starts decomposing to P
2 molecules.[8] White phosphorus exists in two crystalline forms: α (alpha) and β (beta). At room temperature, the α-form is stable, which is more common and it has cubic crystal structure and at 195.2 K (−78.0 °C), it transforms into β-form, which has hexagonal crystal structure. These forms differ in terms of the relative orientations of the constituent P4 tetrahedra.[9][10]

text:
White phosphorus is the least stable, the most reactive, the most volatile, the least dense, and the most toxic of the allotropes. White phosphorus gradually changes to red phosphorus. This transformation is accelerated by light and heat, and samples of white phosphorus almost always contain some red phosphorus and accordingly appear yellow. For this reason, white phosphorus that is aged or otherwise impure (e.g. weapons-grade, not lab-grade WP) is also called yellow phosphorus. When exposed to oxygen, white phosphorus glows in the dark with a very faint tinge of green and blue. It is highly flammable and pyrophoric (self-igniting) upon contact with air. Owing to its pyrophoricity, white phosphorus is used as an additive in napalm. The odour of combustion of this form has a characteristic garlic smell, and samples are commonly coated with white "phosphorus pentoxide", which consists of P
4O
10 tetrahedra with oxygen inserted between the phosphorus atoms and at their vertices. White phosphorus is insoluble in water but soluble in carbon disulfide.[11]

text: Thermolysis of P4 at 1100 kelvin gives diphosphorus, P2. This species is not stable as a solid or liquid. The dimeric unit contains a triple bond and is analogous to N2. It can also be generated as a transient intermediate in solution by thermolysis of organophosphorus precursor reagents.[12] At still higher temperatures, P2 dissociates into atomic P.[11]

text: Red phosphorus is polymeric in structure. It can be viewed as a derivative of P4 wherein one P-P bond is broken, and one additional bond is formed with the neighbouring tetrahedron resulting in a chain-like structure. Red phosphorus may be formed by heating white phosphorus to 250 °C (482 °F) or by exposing white phosphorus to sunlight.[13] Phosphorus after this treatment is amorphous. Upon further heating, this material crystallises. In this sense, red phosphorus is not an allotrope, but rather an intermediate phase between the white and violet phosphorus, and most of its properties have a range of values. For example, freshly prepared, bright red phosphorus is highly reactive and ignites at about 300 °C (572 °F),[14] though it is more stable than white phosphorus, which ignites at about 30 °C (86 °F).[15] After prolonged heating or storage, the color darkens (see infobox images); the resulting product is more stable and does not spontaneously ignite in air.[16]

text: Violet phosphorus is a form of phosphorus that can be produced by day-long annealing of red phosphorus above 550 °C. In 1865, Hittorf discovered that when phosphorus was recrystallised from molten lead, a red/purple form is obtained. Therefore, this form is sometimes known as "Hittorf's phosphorus" (or violet or α-metallic phosphorus).[17]

text: Black phosphorus is the least reactive allotrope and the thermodynamically stable form below 550 °C (1,022 °F). It is also known as β-metallic phosphorus and has a structure somewhat resembling that of graphite.[18][19] It is obtained by heating white phosphorus under high pressures (about 12,000 standard atmospheres or 1.2 gigapascals). It can also be produced at ambient conditions using metal salts, e.g. mercury, as catalysts.[20] In appearance, properties, and structure, it resembles graphite, being black and flaky, a conductor of electricity, and has puckered sheets of linked atoms.[21]

text: Another form, scarlet phosphorus, is obtained by allowing a solution of white phosphorus in carbon disulfide to evaporate in sunlight.[17]

text:
Properties of some allotropes of phosphorus[6][17]

Form
white(α)
white(β)
violet
black

Symmetry
Body-centred cubic
Triclinic
Monoclinic
Orthorhombic

Pearson symbol

aP24
mP84
oS8

Space group
I43m
P1 No.2
P2/c No.13
Cmca No.64

Density (g/cm3)
1.828
1.88
2.36
2.69

Band gap (eV)
2.1

1.5
0.34

Refractive index
1.8244

2.6
2.4

tag: table

text: Chemiluminescence

text: It was known from early times that the green glow emanating from white phosphorus would persist for a time in a stoppered jar, but then cease. Robert Boyle in the 1680s ascribed it to "debilitation" of the air; in fact, it is oxygen being consumed. By the 18th century, it was known that in pure oxygen, phosphorus does not glow at all;[22] there is only a range of partial pressures at which it does. Heat can be applied to drive the reaction at higher pressures.[23]

text:
In 1974, the glow was explained by R. J. van Zee and A. U. Khan.[24][25] A reaction with oxygen takes place at the surface of the solid (or liquid) phosphorus, forming the short-lived molecules HPO and P
2O
2 that both emit visible light. The reaction is slow and only very little of the intermediates are required to produce the luminescence, hence the extended time the glow continues in a stoppered jar.

text: Since that time, phosphors and phosphorescence were used loosely to describe substances that shine in the dark without burning. Although the term phosphorescence is derived from phosphorus, the reaction that gives phosphorus its glow is properly called chemiluminescence (glowing due to a cold chemical reaction), not phosphorescence (re-emitting light that previously fell onto a substance and excited it).[26]

text: Isotopes

text: Twenty-three isotopes of phosphorus are known,[27] including all possibilities from 24P up to 46P. Only 31P is stable and is therefore present at 100% abundance. The half-integer nuclear spin and high abundance of 31P make phosphorus-31 NMR spectroscopy a very useful analytical tool in studies of phosphorus-containing samples.

text: Two radioactive isotopes of phosphorus have half-lives suitable for biological scientific experiments. These are:

text:
32P, a beta-emitter (1.71 MeV) with a half-life of 14.3 days, which is used routinely in life-science laboratories, primarily to produce radiolabeled DNA and RNA probes, e.g. for use in Northern blots or Southern blots.
33P, a beta-emitter (0.25 MeV) with a half-life of 25.4 days. It is used in life-science laboratories in applications in which lower energy beta emissions are advantageous such as DNA sequencing.

tag: ul

text: The high energy beta particles from 32P penetrate skin and corneas and any 32P ingested, inhaled, or absorbed is readily incorporated into bone and nucleic acids. For these reasons, Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the United States, and similar institutions in other developed countries require personnel working with 32P to wear lab coats, disposable gloves, and safety glasses or goggles to protect the eyes, and avoid working directly over open containers. Monitoring personal, clothing, and surface contamination is also required. Shielding requires special consideration. The high energy of the beta particles gives rise to secondary emission of X-rays via Bremsstrahlung (braking radiation) in dense shielding materials such as lead. Therefore, the radiation must be shielded with low density materials such as acrylic or other plastic, water, or (when transparency is not required), even wood.[28]

text: Occurrence

text: Universe

text: In 2013, astronomers detected phosphorus in Cassiopeia A, which confirmed that this element is produced in supernovae as a byproduct of supernova nucleosynthesis. The phosphorus-to-iron ratio in material from the supernova remnant could be up to 100 times higher than in the Milky Way in general.[29]

text: Crust and organic sources

text: At 0.099%, phosphorus is the most abundant pnictogen in the Earth's crust but it is not found free in nature; it is widely distributed in many minerals, mainly phosphates.[7] Inorganic phosphate rock, which is partially made of apatite (a group of minerals being, generally, pentacalcium triorthophosphate fluoride (hydroxide)), is today the chief commercial source of this element. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), about 50 percent of the global phosphorus reserves are in the Arab nations.[30] Large deposits of apatite are located in China, Russia, Morocco,[31] Florida, Idaho, Tennessee, Utah, and elsewhere.[32] Albright and Wilson in the UK and their Niagara Falls plant, for instance, were using phosphate rock in the 1890s and 1900s from Tennessee, Florida, and the Îles du Connétable (guano island sources of phosphate); by 1950 they were using phosphate rock mainly from Tennessee and North Africa.[33]

text: Organic sources, namely urine, bone ash and (in the latter 19th century) guano, were historically of importance but had only limited commercial success.[34] As urine contains phosphorus, it has fertilising qualities which are still harnessed today in some countries, including Sweden, using methods for reuse of excreta. To this end, urine can be used as a fertiliser in its pure form or part of being mixed with water in the form of sewage or sewage sludge.

text: Compounds

text: Phosphorus(V)

text: The most prevalent compounds of phosphorus are derivatives of phosphate (PO43−), a tetrahedral anion.[35] Phosphate is the conjugate base of phosphoric acid, which is produced on a massive scale for use in fertilisers. Being triprotic, phosphoric acid converts stepwise to three conjugate bases:

text: Phosphate exhibits the tendency to form chains and rings with P-O-P bonds. Many polyphosphates are known, including ATP. Polyphosphates arise by dehydration of hydrogen phosphates such as HPO42− and H2PO4−. For example, the industrially important trisodium triphosphate (also known as sodium tripolyphosphate, STPP) is produced industrially on by the megatonne by this condensation reaction:

text: Phosphorus pentoxide (P4O10) is the acid anhydride of phosphoric acid, but several intermediates between the two are known. This waxy white solid reacts vigorously with water.

text: With metal cations, phosphate forms a variety of salts. These solids are polymeric, featuring P-O-M linkages. When the metal cation has a charge of 2+ or 3+, the salts are generally insoluble, hence they exist as common minerals. Many phosphate salts are derived from hydrogen phosphate (HPO42−).

text: PCl5 and PF5 are common compounds. PF5 is a colourless gas and the molecules have trigonal bypramidal geometry. PCl5 is a colourless solid which has an ionic formulation of PCl4+ PCl6−, but adopts the trigonal bypramidal geometry when molten or in the vapour phase.[11] PBr5 is an unstable solid formulated as PBr4+Br−and PI5 is not known.[11] The pentachloride and pentafluoride are Lewis acids. With fluoride, PF5 forms PF6−, an anion that is isoelectronic with SF6. The most important oxyhalide is phosphorus oxychloride, (POCl3), which is approximately tetrahedral.

text: Before extensive computer calculations were feasible, it was thought that bonding in phosphorus(V) compounds involved d orbitals. Computer modeling of molecular orbital theory indicates that this bonding involves only s- and p-orbitals.[36]

text: Phosphorus(III)

text: All four symmetrical trihalides are well known: gaseous PF3, the yellowish liquids PCl3 and PBr3, and the solid PI3. These materials are moisture sensitive, hydrolysing to give phosphorous acid. The trichloride, a common reagent, is produced by chlorination of white phosphorus:

text: The trifluoride is produced from the trichloride by halide exchange. PF3 is toxic because it binds to haemoglobin.

text: Phosphorus(III) oxide, P4O6 (also called tetraphosphorus hexoxide) is the anhydride of P(OH)3, the minor tautomer of phosphorous acid. The structure of P4O6 is like that of P4O10 without the terminal oxide groups.

text: Phosphorus(I) and phosphorus(II)

text: These compounds generally feature P-P bonds.[11] Examples include catenated derivatives of phosphine and organophosphines. Compounds containing P=P double bonds have also been observed, although they are rare.

text: Phosphides and phosphines

text: Phosphides arise by reaction of metals with red phosphorus. The alkali metals (group 1) and alkaline earth metals can form ionic compounds containing the phosphide ion, P3−. These compounds react with water to form phosphine. Other phosphides, for example Na3P7, are known for these reactive metals. With the transition metals as well as the monophosphides there are metal rich phosphides, which are generally hard refractory compounds with a metallic lustre, and phosphorus rich phosphides which are less stable and include semiconductors.[37] Schreibersite is a naturally occurring metal rich phosphide found in meteorites. The structures of the metal rich and phosphorus rich phosphides can be structurally complex.

text: Phosphine (PH3) and its organic derivatives (PR3) are structural analogues with ammonia (NH3) but the bond angles at phosphorus are closer to 90° for phosphine and its organic derivatives. It is an ill-smelling, toxic compound. Phosphorus has an oxidation number of -3 in phosphine. Phosphine is produced by hydrolysis of calcium phosphide, Ca3P2. Unlike ammonia, phosphine is oxidised by air. Phosphine is also far less basic than ammonia. Other phophines are known which contain chains of up to nine phosphorus atoms and have the formula PnHn+2.[11] The highly flammable gas diphosphine (P2H4) is an analogue of hydrazine.

text: Oxoacids

text: Phosphorous oxoacids are extensive, often commercially important, and sometimes structurally complicated. They all have acidic protons bound to oxygen atoms, some have nonacidic protons that are bonded directly to phosphorus and some contain phosphorus - phosphorus bonds.[11] Although many oxoacids of phosphorus are formed, only nine are important, and three of them, hypophosphorous acid, phosphorous acid, and phosphoric acid, are particularly important.

text:
Oxidation state
Formula
Name
Acidic protons
Compounds

+1
HH2PO2
hypophosphorous acid
1
acid, salts

+3
H2HPO3
phosphorous acid
2
acid, salts

+3
HPO2
metaphosphorous acid
1
salts

+3
H3PO3
(ortho)phosphorous acid
3
acid, salts

+4
H4P2O6
hypophosphoric acid
4
acid, salts

+5
(HPO3)n
metaphosphoric acids
n
salts (n=3,4,6)

+5
H(HPO3)nOH
polyphosphoric acids
n+2
acids, salts (n=1-6)

+5
H5P3O10
tripolyphosphoric acid
3
salts

+5
H4P2O7
pyrophosphoric acid
4
acid, salts

+5
H3PO4
(ortho)phosphoric acid
3
acid, salts

text: Nitrides

text: The PN molecule is considered unstable, but is a product of crystalline phosphorus nitride decomposition at 1100 K. Similarly, H2PN is considered unstable, and phosphorus nitride halogens like F2PN, Cl2PN, Br2PN, and I2PN oligomerise into cyclic Polyphosphazenes. For example, compounds of the formula (PNCl2)n exist mainly as rings such as the trimer hexachlorophosphazene. The phosphazenes arise by treatment of phosphorus pentachloride with ammonium chloride:

text: PCl5 + NH4Cl → 1/n (NPCl2)n + 4 HCl

text: When the chloride groups are replaced by alkoxide (RO−), a family of polymers is produced with potentially useful properties.[38]

text: Sulfides

text: Phosphorus forms a wide range of sulfides, where the phosphorus can be in P(V), P(III) or other oxidation states. The most famous is the three-fold symmetric P4S3 which is used in strike-anywhere matches. P4S10 and P4O10 have analogous structures.[39] Mixed oxyhalides and oxyhydrides of phosphorus(III) are almost unknown.

text: Organophosphorus compounds

text: Compounds with P-C and P-O-C bonds are often classified as organophosphorus compounds. They are widely used commercially. The PCl3 serves as a source of P3+ in routes to organophosphorus(III) compounds. For example, it is the precursor to triphenylphosphine:

text: Treatment of phosphorus trihalides with alcohols and phenols gives phosphites, e.g. triphenylphosphite:

text: Similar reactions occur for phosphorus oxychloride, affording triphenylphosphate:

text: History

text: The name Phosphorus in Ancient Greece was the name for the planet Venus and is derived from the Greek words (φῶς = light, φέρω = carry), which roughly translates as light-bringer or light carrier.[13] (In Greek mythology and tradition, Augerinus (Αυγερινός = morning star, still in use today), Hesperus or Hesperinus (΄Εσπερος or Εσπερινός or Αποσπερίτης = evening star, still in use today) and Eosphorus (Εωσφόρος = dawnbearer, not in use for the planet after Christianity) are close homologues, and also associated with Phosphorus-the-planet).

text: According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the correct spelling of the element is phosphorus. The word phosphorous is the adjectival form of the P3+ valence: so, just as sulfur forms sulfurous and sulfuric compounds, phosphorus forms phosphorous compounds (e.g., phosphorous acid) and P5+ valence phosphoric compounds (e.g., phosphoric acids and phosphates).

text: Discovery

text: The discovery of phosphorus, the first element to be discovered that was not known since ancient times,[40] is credited to the German alchemist Hennig Brand in 1669, although other chemists might have discovered phosphorus around the same time.[41] Brand experimented with urine, which contains considerable quantities of dissolved phosphates from normal metabolism.[13] Working in Hamburg, Brand attempted to create the fabled philosopher's stone through the distillation of some salts by evaporating urine, and in the process produced a white material that glowed in the dark and burned brilliantly. It was named phosphorus mirabilis ("miraculous bearer of light").[42]

text:
Brand's process originally involved letting urine stand for days until it gave off a terrible smell. Then he boiled it down to a paste, heated this paste to a high temperature, and led the vapours through water, where he hoped they would condense to gold. Instead, he obtained a white, waxy substance that glowed in the dark. Brand had discovered phosphorus. We now know that Brand produced ammonium sodium hydrogen phosphate, (NH
4)NaHPO
4. While the quantities were essentially correct (it took about 1,100 litres [290 US gal] of urine to make about 60 g of phosphorus), it was unnecessary to allow the urine to rot. Later scientists discovered that fresh urine yielded the same amount of phosphorus.[26]

text: Brand at first tried to keep the method secret,[43] but later sold the recipe for 200 thalers to D Krafft from Dresden,[13] who could now make it as well, and toured much of Europe with it, including England, where he met with Robert Boyle. The secret that it was made from urine leaked out and first Johann Kunckel (1630–1703) in Sweden (1678) and later Boyle in London (1680) also managed to make phosphorus, possibly with the aid of his assistant, Ambrose Godfrey-Hanckwitz, who later made a business of the manufacture of phosphorus.

text: Boyle states that Krafft gave him no information as to the preparation of phosphorus other than that it was derived from "somewhat that belonged to the body of man". This gave Boyle a valuable clue, so that he, too, managed to make phosphorus, and published the method of its manufacture.[13] Later he improved Brand's process by using sand in the reaction (still using urine as base material),

text: Robert Boyle was the first to use phosphorus to ignite sulfur-tipped wooden splints, forerunners of our modern matches, in 1680.[44]

text: Phosphorus was the 13th element to be discovered. For this reason, and due to its use in explosives, poisons and nerve agents, it is sometimes referred to as "the Devil's element".[45]

text: Bone ash and guano

text:
In 1769 Johan Gottlieb Gahn and Carl Wilhelm Scheele showed that calcium phosphate (Ca
3(PO
4)
2) is found in bones, and they obtained elemental phosphorus from bone ash. Antoine Lavoisier recognised phosphorus as an element in 1777.[46] Bone ash was the major source of phosphorus until the 1840s. The method started by roasting bones, then employed the use of clay retorts encased in a very hot brick furnace to distill out the highly toxic elemental phosphorus product.[47] Alternately, precipitated phosphates could be made from ground-up bones that had been de-greased and treated with strong acids. White phosphorus could then be made by heating the precipitated phosphates, mixed with ground coal or charcoal in an iron pot, and distilling off phosphorus vapour in a retort.[48] Carbon monoxide and other flammable gases produced during the reduction process were burnt off in a flare stack.

text: In the 1840s, world phosphate production turned to the mining of tropical island deposits formed from bird and bat guano (see also Guano Islands Act). These became an important source of phosphates for fertiliser in the latter half of the 19th century.[49]

text: Phosphate rock

text: Phosphate rock, which usually contains calcium phosphate, was first used in 1850 to make phosphorus, and following the introduction of the electric arc furnace in 1890, elemental phosphorus production switched from the bone-ash heating, to electric arc production from phosphate rock. After the depletion of world guano sources about the same time, mineral phosphates became the major source of phosphate fertiliser production. Phosphate rock production greatly increased after World War II, and remains the primary global source of phosphorus and phosphorus chemicals today. See the article on peak phosphorus for more information on the history and present state of phosphate mining. Phosphate rock remains a feedstock in the fertiliser industry, where it is treated with sulfuric acid to produce various "superphosphate" fertiliser products.

text: Incendiaries

text: White phosphorus was first made commercially in the 19th century for the match industry. This used bone ash for a phosphate source, as described above. The bone-ash process became obsolete when the submerged-arc furnace for phosphorus production was introduced to reduce phosphate rock.[50][51] The electric furnace method allowed production to increase to the point where phosphorus could be used in weapons of war.[24][52] In World War I it was used in incendiaries, smoke screens and tracer bullets.[52] A special incendiary bullet was developed to shoot at hydrogen-filled Zeppelins over Britain (hydrogen being highly flammable).[52] During World War II, Molotov cocktails made of phosphorus dissolved in petrol were distributed in Britain to specially selected civilians within the British resistance operation, for defence; and phosphorus incendiary bombs were used in war on a large scale. Burning phosphorus is difficult to extinguish and if it splashes onto human skin it has horrific effects.[11]

text: Early matches used white phosphorus in their composition, which was dangerous due to its toxicity. Murders, suicides and accidental poisonings resulted from its use. (An apocryphal tale tells of a woman attempting to murder her husband with white phosphorus in his food, which was detected by the stew's giving off luminous steam).[24] In addition, exposure to the vapours gave match workers a severe necrosis of the bones of the jaw, the infamous "phossy jaw". When a safe process for manufacturing red phosphorus was discovered, with its far lower flammability and toxicity, laws were enacted, under the Berne Convention (1906), requiring its adoption as a safer alternative for match manufacture.[53] The toxicity of white phosphorus led to discontinuation of its use in matches.[54] The Allies used phosphorus incendiary bombs in World War II to destroy Hamburg, the place where the "miraculous bearer of light" was first discovered.[42]

text: Production

text: Most production of phosphorus-bearing material is for agriculture fertilisers. For this purpose, phosphate minerals are converted to phosphoric acid. It follows two distinct chemical routes, the main one being treatment of phosphate minerals with sulfuric acid. The other process utilises white phosphorus, which may be produced by reaction and distillation from very low grade phosphate sources. The white phosphorus is then oxidised to phosphoric acid and subsequently neutralised with base to give phosphate salts. Phosphoric acid produced from white phosphorus is relatively pure and is the main route for the production of phosphates for all purposes, including detergent production.

text: In the early 1990s Albright and Wilson's purified wet phosphoric acid business was being adversely affected by phosphate rock sales by China and the entry of their long-standing Moroccan phosphate suppliers into the purified wet phosphoric acid business.[55]

text: Peak phosphorus

text: In 2017, the USGS estimated 68 billion tons of world reserves, where reserve figures refer to the amount assumed recoverable at current market prices; 0.261 billion tons were mined in 2016.[56] Critical to contemporary agriculture, its annual demand is rising nearly twice as fast as the growth of the human population.[31]

text: The production of phosphorus may have peaked already (as per 2011), leading to the possibility of global shortages by 2040.[57] In 2007, at the rate of consumption, the supply of phosphorus was estimated to run out in 345 years.[58] However, some scientists now believe that a "peak phosphorus" will occur in 30 years and that "At current rates, reserves will be depleted in the next 50 to 100 years."[59] Cofounder of Boston-based investment firm and environmental foundation Jeremy Grantham wrote in Nature in November 2012 that consumption of the element "must be drastically reduced in the next 20-40 years or we will begin to starve."[31][60] According to N.N. Greenwood and A. Earnshaw, authors of the textbook, Chemistry of the Elements, however, phosphorus comprises about 0.1% by mass of the average rock, and consequently the Earth's supply is vast, although dilute.[11]

text: Elemental phosphorus

text:
Presently, about 1,000,000 short tons (910,000 t) of elemental phosphorus is produced annually. Calcium phosphate (phosphate rock), mostly mined in Florida and North Africa, can be heated to 1,200–1,500 °C with sand, which is mostly SiO
2, and coke (refined coal) to produce vaporised P
4. The product is subsequently condensed into a white powder under water to prevent oxidation by air. Even under water, white phosphorus is slowly converted to the more stable red phosphorus allotrope. The chemical equation for this process when starting with fluoroapatite, a common phosphate mineral, is:

text: Side products from this process include ferrophosphorus, a crude form of Fe2P, resulting from iron impurities in the mineral precursors. The silicate slag is a useful construction material. The fluoride is sometimes recovered for use in water fluoridation. More problematic is a "mud" containing significant amounts of white phosphorus. Production of white phosphorus is conducted in large facilities in part because it is energy intensive. The white phosphorus is transported in molten form. Some major accidents have occurred during transportation; train derailments at Brownston, Nebraska and Miamisburg, Ohio led to large fires. The worst incident in recent times was an environmental contamination in 1968 when the sea was polluted from spillage and/or inadequately treated sewage from a white phosphorus plant at Placentia Bay, Newfoundland.[61]

text: Another process by which elemental phosphorus is extracted includes applying at high temperatures (1500 °C):[62]

text: Historically, before the development of mineral-based extractions, white phosphorus was isolated on an industrial scale from bone ash.[63] In this process, the tricalcium phosphate in bone ash is converted to monocalcium phosphate with sulfuric acid:

text: Monocalcium phosphate is then dehydrated to the corresponding metaphosphate:

text: When ignited to a white heat with charcoal, calcium metaphosphate yields two-thirds of its weight of white phosphorus while one-third of the phosphorus remains in the residue as calcium orthophosphate:

text: Applications

text: Fertiliser

text: Phosphorus is an essential plant nutrient (often the limiting nutrient), and the bulk of all phosphorus production is in concentrated phosphoric acids for agriculture fertilisers, containing as much as 70% to 75% P2O5. Its annual demand is rising nearly twice as fast as the growth of the human population. That led to large increase in phosphate (PO43−) production in the second half of the 20th century.[31] Artificial phosphate fertilisation is necessary because phosphorus is essential to all life organisms, natural phosphorus-bearing compounds are mostly insoluble and inaccessible to plants, and the natural cycle of phosphorus is very slow. Fertiliser is often in the form of superphosphate of lime, a mixture of calcium dihydrogen phosphate (Ca(H2PO4)2), and calcium sulfate dihydrate (CaSO4·2H2O) produced reacting sulfuric acid and water with calcium phosphate.

text: Processing phosphate minerals with sulfuric acid for obtaining fertiliser is so important to the global economy that this is the primary industrial market for sulfuric acid and the greatest industrial use of elemental sulfur.[64]

text:
Widely used compounds
Use

Ca(H2PO4)2·H2O
Baking powder and fertilisers

CaHPO4·2H2O
Animal food additive, toothpowder

H3PO4
Manufacture of phosphate fertilisers

PCl3
Manufacture of POCl3 and pesticides

POCl3
Manufacture of plasticiser

P4S10
Manufacturing of additives and pesticides

Na5P3O10
Detergents

text: Organophosphorus

text: White phosphorus is widely used to make organophosphorus compounds through intermediate phosphorus chlorides and two phosphorus sulfides, phosphorus pentasulfide, and phosphorus sesquisulfide.[65] Organophosphorus compounds have many applications, including in plasticisers, flame retardants, pesticides, extraction agents, nerve agents, and water treatment.[11][66]

text: Metallurgical aspects

text: Phosphorus is also an important component in steel production, in the making of phosphor bronze, and in many other related products.[67][68] Phosphorus is added to metallic copper during its smelting process to react with oxygen present as an impurity in copper and to produce phosphorus-containing copper (CuOFP) alloys with a higher hydrogen embrittlement resistance than normal copper.[69]

text: Matches

text: The first striking match with a phosphorus head was invented by Charles Sauria in 1830. These matches (and subsequent modifications) were made with heads of white phosphorus, an oxygen-releasing compound (potassium chlorate, lead dioxide, or sometimes nitrate), and a binder. They were poisonous to the workers in manufacture,[70] sensitive to storage conditions, toxic if ingested, and hazardous when accidentally ignited on a rough surface.[71][72] Production in several countries was banned between 1872 and 1925.[73] The international Berne Convention, ratified in 1906, prohibited the use of white phosphorus in matches.

text: In consequence, the 'strike-anywhere' matches were gradually replaced by 'safety matches', wherein the white phosphorus was replaced by phosphorus sesquisulfide (P4S3), sulfur, or antimony sulfide. Such matches are difficult to ignite on any surface other than a special strip. The strip contains red phosphorus that heats up upon striking, reacts with the oxygen-releasing compound in the head, and ignites the flammable material of the head.[14][65]

text: Water softening

text: Sodium tripolyphosphate made from phosphoric acid is used in laundry detergents in some countries, but banned for this use in others.[16] This compound softens the water to enhance the performance of the detergents and to prevent pipe/boiler tube corrosion.[74]

text: Miscellaneous

text:
Phosphates are used to make special glasses for sodium lamps.[16]
Bone-ash, calcium phosphate, is used in the production of fine china.[16]
Phosphoric acid made from elemental phosphorus is used in food applications such as soft drinks, and as a starting point for food grade phosphates.[65] These include mono-calcium phosphate for baking powder and sodium tripolyphosphate.[65] Phosphates are used to improve the characteristics of processed meat and cheese, and in toothpaste.[65]
White phosphorus, called "WP" (slang term "Willie Peter") is used in military applications as incendiary bombs, for smoke-screening as smoke pots and smoke bombs, and in tracer ammunition. It is also a part of an obsolete M34 White Phosphorus US hand grenade. This multipurpose grenade was mostly used for signaling, smoke screens, and inflammation; it could also cause severe burns and had a psychological impact on the enemy.[75][76] Military uses of white phosphorus are constrained by international law.
In trace amounts, phosphorus is used as a dopant for n-type semiconductors.
32P and 33P are used as radioactive tracers in biochemical laboratories.[77]
Phosphate is a strong complexing agent for the hexavalent uranyl (UO22+) species; for this reason, apatite and other natural phosphates can be very rich in uranium.
Tributylphosphate is an organophosphate soluble in kerosene used to extract uranium in the Purex process for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel.

text: Biological role

text:
Inorganic phosphorus in the form of the phosphate PO3−
4 is required for all known forms of life.[78] Phosphorus plays a major role in the structural framework of DNA and RNA. Living cells use phosphate to transport cellular energy with adenosine triphosphate (ATP), necessary for every cellular process that uses energy. ATP is also important for phosphorylation, a key regulatory event in cells. Phospholipids are the main structural components of all cellular membranes. Calcium phosphate salts assist in stiffening bones.[11]

text: Every living cell is encased in a membrane that separates it from its surroundings. Cellular membranes are composed of a phospholipid matrix and proteins, typically in the form of a bilayer. Phospholipids are derived from glycerol with two of the glycerol hydroxyl (OH) protons replaced by fatty acids as an ester, and the third hydroxyl proton has been replaced with phosphate bonded to another alcohol.[79]

text:
An average adult human contains about 0.7 kg of phosphorus, about 85–90% in bones and teeth in the form of apatite, and the remainder in soft tissues and extracellular fluids (~1%). The phosphorus content increases from about 0.5 weight% in infancy to 0.65–1.1 weight% in adults. Average phosphorus concentration in the blood is about 0.4 g/L, about 70% of that is organic and 30% inorganic phosphates.[80] An adult with healthy diet consumes and excretes about 1–3 grams of phosphorus per day, with consumption in the form of inorganic phosphate and phosphorus-containing biomolecules such as nucleic acids and phospholipids; and excretion almost exclusively in the form of phosphate ions such as H
2PO−
4 and HPO2−
4. Only about 0.1% of body phosphate circulates in the blood, paralleling the amount of phosphate available to soft tissue cells.

text: Bone and teeth enamel

text: The main component of bone is hydroxyapatite as well as amorphous forms of calcium phosphate, possibly including carbonate. Hydroxyapatite is the main component of tooth enamel. Water fluoridation enhances the resistance of teeth to decay by the partial conversion of this mineral to the still harder material called fluoroapatite:[11]

text: Phosphorus deficiency

text: In medicine, phosphate deficiency syndrome may be caused by malnutrition, by failure to absorb phosphate, and by metabolic syndromes that draw phosphate from the blood (such as in refeeding syndrome after malnutrition[81]) or pass too much of it into the urine. All are characterised by hypophosphatemia, which is a condition of low levels of soluble phosphate levels in the blood serum and inside the cells. Symptoms of hypophosphatemia include neurological dysfunction and disruption of muscle and blood cells due to lack of ATP. Too much phosphate can lead to diarrhoea and calcification (hardening) of organs and soft tissue, and can interfere with the body's ability to use iron, calcium, magnesium, and zinc.[82]

text: Phosphorus is an essential macromineral for plants, which is studied extensively in edaphology to understand plant uptake from soil systems. Phosphorus is a limiting factor in many ecosystems; that is, the scarcity of phosphorus limits the rate of organism growth. An excess of phosphorus can also be problematic, especially in aquatic systems where eutrophication sometimes leads to algal blooms.[31]

text: Dietary recommendations

text: The U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM) updated Estimated Average Requirements (EARs) and Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for phosphorus in 1997. If there is not sufficient information to establish EARs and RDAs, an estimate designated Adequate Intake (AI) is used instead. The current EAR for phosphorus for people ages 19 and up is 580 mg/day. The RDA is 700 μg/day. RDAs are higher than EARs so as to identify amounts that will cover people with higher than average requirements. RDA for pregnancy and lactation are also 700 mg/day. For children ages 1–18 years the RDA increases with age from 460 to 1250 mg/day. As for safety, the IOM sets Tolerable upper intake levels (ULs) for vitamins and minerals when evidence is sufficient. In the case of phosphorus the UL is 4000 mg/day. Collectively the EARs, RDAs, AIs and ULs are referred to as Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs).[83]

text: The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) refers to the collective set of information as Dietary Reference Values, with Population Reference Intake (PRI) instead of RDA, and Average Requirement instead of EAR. AI and UL defined the same as in United States. For people ages 15 and older, including pregnancy and lactation, the AI is set at 550 mg/day. For children ages 4-10 years the AI is 440 mg/day, for ages 11-17 640 mg/day. These AIs are lower than the U.S RDAs. In both systems, teenagers need more than adults.[84] The European Food Safety Authority reviewed the same safety question and decided that there was not sufficient information to set a UL.[85]

text: For U.S. food and dietary supplement labeling purposes the amount in a serving is expressed as a percent of Daily Value (%DV). For phosphorus labeling purposes 100% of the Daily Value was 1000 mg, but as of May 27, 2016 it was revised to 1250 mg to bring it into agreement with the RDA.[86] A table of the old and new adult Daily Values is provided at Reference Daily Intake. Food and supplement companies have until July 28, 2018 to comply with the change.

text: Food sources

text: The main food sources for phosphorus are the same as those containing protein, although proteins do not contain phosphorus. For example, milk, meat, and soya typically also have phosphorus. As a rule, if a diet has sufficient protein and calcium, the amount of phosphorus is probably sufficient.[87]

text: Precautions

text: Organic compounds of phosphorus form a wide class of materials; many are required for life, but some are extremely toxic. Fluorophosphate esters are among the most potent neurotoxins known. A wide range of organophosphorus compounds are used for their toxicity as pesticides (herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, etc.) and weaponised as nerve agents against enemy humans. Most inorganic phosphates are relatively nontoxic and essential nutrients.[11]

text: The white phosphorus allotrope presents a significant hazard because it ignites in air and produces phosphoric acid residue. Chronic white phosphorus poisoning leads to necrosis of the jaw called "phossy jaw". White phosphorus is toxic, causing severe liver damage on ingestion and may cause a condition known as "Smoking Stool Syndrome".[88]

text: In the past, external exposure to elemental phosphorus was treated by washing the affected area with 2% copper sulfate solution to form harmless compounds that are then washed away. According to the recent US Navy's Treatment of Chemical Agent Casualties and Conventional Military Chemical Injuries: FM8-285: Part 2 Conventional Military Chemical Injuries, "Cupric (copper(II)) sulfate has been used by U.S. personnel in the past and is still being used by some nations. However, copper sulfate is toxic and its use will be discontinued. Copper sulfate may produce kidney and cerebral toxicity as well as intravascular hemolysis."[89]

text: The manual suggests instead "a bicarbonate solution to neutralise phosphoric acid, which will then allow removal of visible white phosphorus. Particles often can be located by their emission of smoke when air strikes them, or by their phosphorescence in the dark. In dark surroundings, fragments are seen as luminescent spots. Promptly debride the burn if the patient's condition will permit removal of bits of WP (white phosphorus) that might be absorbed later and possibly produce systemic poisoning. DO NOT apply oily-based ointments until it is certain that all WP has been removed. Following complete removal of the particles, treat the lesions as thermal burns."[note 1][citation needed] As white phosphorus readily mixes with oils, any oily substances or ointments are not recommended until the area is thoroughly cleaned and all white phosphorus removed.

text: People can be exposed to phosphorus in the workplace by inhalation, ingestion, skin contact, and eye contact. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set the phosphorus exposure limit (Permissible exposure limit) in the workplace at 0.1 mg/m3 over an 8-hour workday. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set a Recommended exposure limit (REL) of 0.1 mg/m3 over an 8-hour workday. At levels of 5 mg/m3, phosphorus is immediately dangerous to life and health.[90]

text: US DEA List I status

text: Phosphorus can reduce elemental iodine to hydroiodic acid, which is a reagent effective for reducing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine to methamphetamine.[91] For this reason, red and white phosphorus were designated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration as List I precursor chemicals under 21 CFR 1310.02 effective on November 17, 2001.[92] In the United States, handlers of red or white phosphorus are subject to stringent regulatory controls.[92][93][94]

text: Notes

text: Jump up ^ This quote uses the word "phosphorescence", which is incorrect; WP, (white phosphorus), exhibits chemoluminescence upon exposure to air and if there is any WP in the wound, covered by tissue or fluids such as blood serum, it will not chemoluminesce until it is moved to a position where the air can get at it and activate the chemoluminescent glow, which requires a very dark room and dark-adapted eyes to see clearly

tag: ol


document_title: Star-Spangled Banner (flag)

question_text: where is the original star spangled banner located

text: Star-Spangled Banner (flag)

text: History[edit]

text: In Baltimore's preparation for an expected attack on the city, Fort McHenry was made ready to defend the city's harbor. When Major George Armistead expressed desire for a very large flag to fly over the fort, General John S. Stricker and Commodore Joshua Barney placed an order with a prominent Baltimorean flagmaker for two oversized American Flags. The larger of the two flags would be the Great Garrison Flag, the largest battle flag ever flown at the time.[2] The smaller of the two flags would be the Storm Flag, to be more durable and less prone to fouling in inclement weather.

text: Available documentation shows that this flag was sewn by local flagmaker Mary Young Pickersgill under a government commission in 1813 at a cost of $405.90 (equivalent to $5,037 in 2016).[3][4] George Armistead, the commander of Fort McHenry, specified "a flag so large that the British would have no difficulty seeing it from a distance".[5][6]

text: Design[edit]

text: Mary Pickersgill stitched the flag from a combination of cotton and dyed English wool bunting, assisted by her daughter, two nieces, and an African American indentured servant. (Her elderly mother may also have helped.)[7] The flag has fifteen horizontal red and white stripes, as well as fifteen white stars in the blue field. The two additional stars and stripes, approved by the United States Congress's Flag Act of 1794, represent Vermont and Kentucky's entrance into the Union. The stars are arranged in vertical rows, with five horizontal rows of stars, offset, each containing three stars. At the time, the practice of adding stripes (in addition to stars) with the induction of a new state had not yet been discontinued.

text: The flag originally measured 30 by 42 feet (9.1 by 12.8 m). Each of the fifteen stripes is 2 feet (0.61 m) wide, and each of the stars measures about 2 feet (0.61 m) in diameter. After the battle, the Armistead family occasionally gave away pieces of the flag as souvenirs and gifts;[8] this cutting, along with deterioration from continued use, removed several feet of fabric from the flag's fly end, and it now measures 30 by 34 feet (9.1 by 10.4 m). The flag currently has only fourteen stars—the fifteenth star was similarly given as a gift, but its recipient and current whereabouts are unknown.[9]

text: Battle[edit]

text: The Flag was flown over the fort when 5,000 British soldiers and a fleet of 19 ships attacked Baltimore on September 12, 1814. The bombardment turned to Fort McHenry on the evening of September 13, and continuous shelling occurred for 25 hours under heavy rain. When the British ships were unable to pass the fort and penetrate the harbor, the attack was ended, and on the morning of September 14, when the battered flag still flew above the ramparts, it was clear that Fort McHenry remained in American hands. This revelation was famously captured in poetry by Key, an American lawyer and amateur poet. Being held by the British on a truce ship in the Patapsco River, Key observed the battle from afar. When he saw the Garrison Flag still flying at dawn of the morning of the 14th, he composed a poem he originally titled "Defence of Fort M'Henry". The poem would be put to the music of a common tune, retitled "The Star-Spangled Banner", and a portion of it would later be adopted as the United States National Anthem. Since its arrival at the Smithsonian, the flag has undergone multiple preservation efforts.

text: Scrap sold at auction, November 2011[edit]

text: A 2-inch by 5-inch scrap of the flag - white and red, with a seam down the middle - was sold at auction in Dallas, TX on November 30, 2011, for $38,837: the snippet was, presumably, cut from the famous flag as a souvenir in the mid-19th century.[10] The framed remnant came with a faded, hand-written note attesting it was "A piece of the Flag which floated over Fort McHenry at the time of the bombardment when Key's (sic) composed the Song of the Star Spangled Banner, presented by Sam Beth Cohen."[11]

text: Smithsonian National Museum of American History[edit]

text: The flag that flew during that episode in history became a significant artifact. It remained in the possession of Major Armistead, who was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel, and his family for many years. Eben Appleton, Colonel Armistead's grandson, inherited the flag in 1878. In 1907, he lent it to the Smithsonian Institution, and in 1912 it was made a formal gift. Today it is permanently housed in the National Museum of American History, one of the Smithsonian Institution museums on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The flag was given to the museum in 1912, and has undergone multiple restoration efforts[12] after being originally restored by Amelia Fowler in 1914.

text: Due to environmental and light damage a four phase restoration project began in May 1999. In the first phase, the team removed the linen support backing that was attached to the flag during the 1914 restoration. The second phase consisted of the most comprehensive, detailed examination of the condition and construction of the Star-Spangled Banner to date, which provided critical information for later work. This included scientific studies with infrared spectrometry, electron microscopy, mechanical testing, and determination of amino acid content by a New Zealand scientist, and infrared imaging by a NASA scientist.[13] Planning and executing a cleaning treatment for the flag following scientific analysis was the third phase. In the fourth and final phase of the project, curators, scientists and conservators developed a long-term preservation plan. The restoration was completed in 2008 at a total cost in excess of $21 million.[14]

text: Following the reopening of the National Museum of American History on November 21, 2008, the flag is now on display in a two-story display chamber that allows it to lie at a 10-degree angle in dim light. The Smithsonian has created a permanent exhibition to document the flag's history and significance, called "The Star-Spangled Banner: The Flag that Inspired the National Anthem". Visitors are allowed a clear view of the flag, while it remains protected in a controlled environment.[15][16][17]

text: The National Museum of American History produced an online exhibition in conjunction with the reopening of Flag Hall in 2008. An interactive component allows site visitors to closely explore features of the flag in detail, download an audiodescriptive tour of the exhibition for the visually-impaired, and hear the song performed on original instruments from the National Museum of American History's collection.[18]


document_title: Spirit Riding Free

question_text: when is spirit riding free season 5 coming out

text: Spirit Riding Free

text: Plot[edit]

text: Set during the 19th century in the small town of Miradero, Texas, a 12-year-old[2] girl named Lucky, who had recently relocated from the city, encounters a wild kiger mustang named Spirit. Offspring of Spirit and Rain from Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, the horse is caught by wranglers and brought to be "broken" in Miradero. Lucky gradually bonds with the stallion, and frees him. Lucky also meets two other girls, Pru and Abigail, who both own horses, Chica Linda, a palomino, and Boomerang, a pinto horse, respectively. They embark on everyday adventures across the land.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Amber Frank as Lucky Prescott[2]
Bailey Gambertoglio as Abigail Stone[2]
Sydney Park as Pru Granger[2]
Jeff Bennett as Mesteneros
Darcy Rose Byrnes as Maricela[2]
Nolan North as Jim Prescott[2]
Andy Pessoa as Turo
Tiya Sircar as Miss Flores
Kari Wahlgren as Aunt Cora[2]
Jonathan Craig Williams as Al

text: Production[edit]

text: Six episodes of the first season premiered on May 5, 2017.[3] The series was renewed for a second season and it premiered on September 8, 2017.[6] The series was renewed for a third season and it premiered on November 17, 2017.[7] The series was renewed for a fourth season and it premiered on March 16, 2018.[8] A fifth season of the show was released on Netflix on May 11, 2018.[9]

text: Crew[edit]

text: The voice director for the first three episodes was Ginny McSwain; Katie McWane took over as voice director subsequent to that.

text: Episodes[edit]

text: Series overview[edit]

text:
Season
Episodes
Originally released

1
6
May 5, 2017 (2017-05-05)

2
7
September 8, 2017 (2017-09-08)

3
7
November 17, 2017 (2017-11-17)

4
6
March 16, 2018 (2018-03-16)

5
7
May 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

text: Season 1 (2017)[edit]

text:
No.
overall
No. in
season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Storyboarded by
Original release date

1
1
"Lucky and the Unbreakable Spirit"
Joshua Taback
Aury Wallington
Stephanie Arnett
May 5, 2017 (2017-05-05)

Newly arrived in the town of Miradero, city girl Lucky struggles to fit in at school but befriends a wild stallion after he is wrangled for taming.

2
2
"Lucky and the Treacherous Trail"
Joshua Taback
Aury Wallington
Marc Wasik & Kevin Wotton
May 5, 2017 (2017-05-05)

Headstrong Lucky persuades Pru to give her a crash course in horseback riding so she and Spirit can participate in the annual Saddle Club race.

3
3
"Lucky and the Mysterious Map"
Beth Sleven
Aury Wallington
Jean Kang & Christina Manrique
May 5, 2017 (2017-05-05)

On her first camping trip, Lucky decides to decode her dad's old treasure map, then sneaks off with Abigail, Pru and Spirit to find the fortune.

4
4
"Lucky and the Competition Conundrum"
Joshua Taback
Katherine Nolfi
Marc Wasik & Kevin Wotton
May 5, 2017 (2017-05-05)

Desperate to be Student of the Month, Lucky teams with Maricela to create a booth for a school fundraiser, pitting herself against Pru and Abigail.

5
5
"Lucky and the Appaloosa Adventure"
Beth Sleven
Robert Taylor
Jean Kang & Christina Manrique
May 5, 2017 (2017-05-05)

As Lucky and saddle-maker Turo plot to help a horse neglected by his cruel owner, Lucky's dad works to fix a cracked dam before disaster strikes.

6
6
"Lucky and the Not-So-Secret Surprise"
Julia "Fitzy" Fitzmaurice
Nancy Cohen
Kathryn Marusik & David Van Tuyle
May 5, 2017 (2017-05-05)

Determined to throw Pru the best surprise birthday party ever, Lucky enlists Abigail's help in planning the event, which quickly gets out of hand.

text: Season 2 (2017)[edit]

text:
No.
overall
No. in
season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Storyboarded by
Original release date

7
1
"Lucky and the Cowboy Next Door"
Julia "Fitzy" Fitzmaurice
Laura Sreebny
Kathryn Marusik & David VanTuyle
September 8, 2017 (2017-09-08)

Eager to follow in her mother's footsteps, Lucky gets lessons in trick riding from dashing young performer, Javier.

8
2
"Lucky and the Pie P.I."
Beth Sleven
Robert Taylor
Jean Kang & Christina Manrique
September 8, 2017 (2017-09-08)

When Abigail's prize cherry pie goes missing, Lucky draws inspiration from her favorite book sleuth and plays detectives with her pals.

9
3
"Lucky and the Super Amazing and Fun Cousin Julian"
Beth Sleven
Nancy Cohen
Jean Kang & Christina Manrique
September 8, 2017 (2017-09-08)

Lucky's visiting cousin, Julian, charms her friends with his exciting schemes, but Lucky believes he's up to no good.

10
4
"Lucky and the Harvest Hunt"
Joshua Taback
Laura Sreebny
Marc Wasik & Kevin Wotton
September 8, 2017 (2017-09-08)

Lucky and her pals search for a scarecrow.

11
5
"Lucky and the Christmas Spirit"
Joshua Taback
Katherine Nolfi
Marc Wasik & Kevin Wotton
September 8, 2017 (2017-09-08)

Lucky and her friends send gifts to everyone in town during Christmas.

12
6
"Lucky and the Deadly Blizzard"
Julia "Fitzy" Fitzmaurice
Aury Wallington
Kathryn Marusik & David VanTuyle
September 8, 2017 (2017-09-08)

Lucky and Maricela work together to get medicine from a broken train during a flu outbreak when a blizzard is coming.

13
7
"Lucky and the Price of Freedom"
Julia "Fitzy" Fitzmaurice
Aury Wallington
Christian Lignan & Kathryn Marusik
September 8, 2017 (2017-09-08)

Lucky pretends to be a man to enter a horse race to prove that women are good at riding horses. Though she wins, her identity is exposed and she is disqualified. The winner, Junipero's former owner, decides to get back at Lucky by capturing Spirit, a wild mustang, and shipping him to the auction house. Will Lucky ever see Spirit again?

text: Season 3 (2017)[edit]

text:
No.
overall
No. in
season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Storyboarded by
Original release date

14
1
"Lucky and the Long Way Home"
Julia "Fitzy" Fitzmaurice
Nancy Cohen
Gus Corrales, Liza Epps, Rianna Liu, Kathryn Marusik
November 17, 2017 (2017-11-17)

15
2
"Lucky and the New Governor"
Julia "Fitzy" Fitzmaurice
Lauren Bradley
Kathryn Marusik
November 17, 2017 (2017-11-17)

16
3
"Lucky and the Risky Rescue"
Beth Sleven
Laura Sreebny
Jean Kang, Christina "Kiki" Manrique
November 17, 2017 (2017-11-17)

17
4
"Lucky and the Field Trip Fraud"
Beth Sleven
Candie Kelty Langdale
Jean Kang, Christina "Kiki" Manrique
November 17, 2017 (2017-11-17)

18
5
"Lucky and the Shaky Day"
Beth Sleven
Katherine Nolfi
Jean Kang, Christina "Kiki" Manrique
November 17, 2017 (2017-11-17)

19
6
"Lucky and the Golden Opportunity"
Joshua Taback
Robert Taylor
Mandy Clotworthy, Kevin Wotton
November 17, 2017 (2017-11-17)

20
7
"Lucky and the Lion"
Joshua Taback
Aury Wallington
Rianna Liu, Marc Wasik, Kevin Wotton
November 17, 2017 (2017-11-17)

text: Season 4 (2018)[edit]

text:
No.
overall
No. in
season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Storyboarded by
Original release date

21
1
"Lucky and the Impatient Patient"
Joshua Taback
Nancy Cohen & Robert Taylor
Mandy Clotworthy & Kevin Wotton
March 16, 2018 (2018-03-16)

22
2
"Lucky and the Train Tycoon"
Joshua Taback
Rich Burns
Marc Wasik & Kevin Wotton
March 16, 2018 (2018-03-16)

23
3
"Lucky and the Role Reversal"
Beth Sleven
Katherine Nolfi
Jean Kang & Christina "Kiki" Manrique
March 16, 2018 (2018-03-16)

24
4
"Lucky and the Patchwork Plan"
Julia "Fitzy" Fitzmaurice
Laura Sreebny
Liza Epps & Kathryn Marusik
March 16, 2018 (2018-03-16)

25
5
"Lucky and the Her New Family Part 1"
Julia "Fitzy" Fitzmaurice
Aury Wallington
Liza Epps & Kathryn Marusik
March 16, 2018 (2018-03-16)

26
6
"Lucky and the Her New Family Part 2"
Beth Sleven
Aury Wallington
Jean Kang & Christina "Kiki" Manrique
March 16, 2018 (2018-03-16)

text: Season 5 (2018)[edit]

text:
No.
overall
No. in
season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Storyboarded by
Original release date

27
1
"Lucky and La Voltereta Feroz"
Joshua Taback
Laura Sreebny
Marc Wasik & Kevin Wotton
May 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

28
2
"Lucky and the No-Good Outlaw Butch LePray"
Joshua Taback
Robert Taylor
Marc Wasik & Kevin Wotton
May 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

29
3
"Lucky and the Big Goodbye"
Beth Sleven
Katherine Nolfi
Jean Kang & Kimberly Jo Mills
May 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

30
4
"Lucky and the Two-Wheeled Terror"
Julia "Fitzy" Fitzmaurice
Rich Burns
Liza Epps & Kathryn Marusik
May 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

31
5
"Lucky and the Rough Ride"
Julia "Fitzy" Fitzmaurice
Laura Sreebny
Liza Epps & Kathryn Marusik
May 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

32
6
"Lucky and the Ghostly Gotcha!"
Joshua Taback
Aury Wallington
Marc Wasik & Kevin Wotton
May 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

33
7
"Lucky and the Doomed Delivery"
Julia "Fitzy" Fitzmaurice
Katherine Nolfi
Marc Wasik & Kevin Wotton
May 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

text: Home media[edit]

text: A DVD collection of all the episodes from seasons 1–4, titled Spirit Riding Free: Season 1–4 is set to be released on DVD on June 5, 2018 by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.[10]


document_title: Edwards Plateau

question_text: how have the physical features of the edwards plateau limited human activities in the region

text: Edwards Plateau

text: Counties in the Edwards Plateau[edit]

text: According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the following 41 counties comprise the Edwards Plateau:[3]

text:
Bosque
Bandera
Bell
Blanco
Burnet
Coke
Comal
Comanche
Concho
Coryell
Crockett
Edwards
Erath
Gillespie

Hamilton
Hays
Hood
Irion
Kendall
Kerr
Kimble
Lampasas
Llano
Mason
McCulloch
McLennan
Menard
Mills

Palo Pinto
Reagan
Real
San Saba
Schleicher
Somervell
Sterling
Sutton
Tom Green
Travis
Upton
Val Verde
Williamson

text: Natural history[edit]

text: The bedrock consists primarily of limestone, with elevations ranging between 100 and 3000 ft. Caves are numerous.

text: The landscape of the plateau is mostly savanna scattered with trees. It mostly lacks deep soil suitable for farming, though the soil is fertile mollisols and some cotton, grain sorghum and oats are grown. For the most part, though, the thin soil and rough terrain areas are primarily grazing regions, with cattle, sheep and Angora goats predominant.[4] Several rivers cross the region, which generally flow to the south and east through the Texas Hill Country toward the Gulf of Mexico; springs occur (in wet years), but permanent surface water supplies are sparse throughout the area, except for man-made reservoirs. The area is well drained; rainwater flows into the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone at the south of the plateau to feed rivers to the south. Rainfall varies from 15 to 33 inches per year, on average, from northwest to southeast, and the area has a moderate temperature and a reasonably long growing season.

text: Trees of the savanna include a juniper-oak mix and a mesquite-acacia mix scattered over fairly short grasses, which traditionally were affected by droughts and regular fires. Some pecan trees are found near the springs and rivers. The Balcones Fault is associated with the Edwards Plateau formation.[5] This fault line is an ecological demarcation for the range definition of a number of species. For example, the California fan palm, Washingtonia filifera, is known to occur only west of the Edwards Plateau or Balcones Fault, and Buddleja racemosa is known only from the southern edge of the plateau.

text: Caves of the Edwards Plateau are important habitats for a great deal of wildlife. The area is home to some of the largest colonies of bats in the world, including millions of Mexican free-tailed bats. The largest colony of these inhabits Bracken Cave near San Antonio, while the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin is the summer home for over half a million (they winter in Mexico) and is the largest bat colony anywhere in an urban area. The Edwards Plateau is home to at least 14 endemic freshwater fishes, including 2 subterranean species of catfish[6] and 13 fish species considered to be spring-associated[7].There are also large numbers of reptiles and birds, including breeding populations of the Texan endemic golden-cheeked warbler (Dendroica chrysoparia).

text: Nearly all the natural habitat of the plateau has been converted to ranchland, farmland or urban areas, such as Austin and San Antonio, with only about 2% remaining in scattered fragments, especially to the east of the plateau. Further alteration to the savanna has incurred though the encroachment of shrubs now that grassland fires are carefully controlled. Small areas of intact habitat remain, particularly around Austin, where areas are protected, such as the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge. Another important area for wildlife is Fort Hood military base.[8]

text: Human history[edit]

text: Earliest human settlement of this area was by Native Americans.[9] First it was used and wandered about by Jumano and Coahuiltecan groups, then the Apacheria extended into the Southern Plains by the forerunners of the Lipan and Mescalero Apaches. After the expulsion of the Apachean groups from the Plains by the Comanche, this area was dominated by the Penateka band of the Southern Comanche.


question_text: where does the movie three billboards take place

text: Plot[edit]

text: In the town of Ebbing, Missouri, Mildred Hayes is grieving the rape and murder of her teenage daughter, Angela, seven months earlier. Angry over the lack of progress in the investigation, Mildred rents three abandoned billboards near her home, and posts on them: "Raped While Dying", "Still No Arrests?", and "How Come, Chief Willoughby?" The billboards upset the townspeople, including Chief Bill Willoughby and Officer Jason Dixon, the latter being a racist and a violent alcoholic. The open secret that Willoughby suffers from terminal pancreatic cancer adds to everyone's disapproval. Mildred and her son Robbie are harassed and threatened, but to Robbie's chagrin, she stays firm about keeping the billboards up.

text: While Willoughby is sympathetic to Mildred's frustration, he finds the billboards an unfair attack on his character. Angered by Mildred's lack of respect for his authority, Dixon threatens businessman Red Welby, who rented Mildred the billboards, and he arrests her friend and coworker, Denise, on trivial marijuana possession charges. Mildred is also visited by her abusive ex-husband Charlie, who blames her for their daughter's death.

text: Willoughby brings Mildred in for questioning after she drills a hole in her dentist's thumb when he threatens her. During the interview, Willoughby coughs up blood. He leaves the hospital against medical advice and spends an idyllic day with his wife Anne and their two daughters, then commits suicide due to his illness. He leaves suicide notes for several people, including Mildred, in which he explains that she was not a factor in his suicide and that he secretly paid to keep the billboards up for another month, amused at the trouble this will bring her and hope that they will keep attention on the murder. Dixon reacts to the news of Willoughby's death by assaulting Welby and throwing him out of a window. This is witnessed by Willoughby's replacement, Abercrombie, who fires Dixon. In the meanwhile, Mildred is threatened by a crop-haired stranger in her store.

text: The billboards are destroyed by arson. Mildred retaliates by tossing Molotov cocktails at the police station, which she believes is unoccupied for the night. However, Dixon is there to read Willoughby's letter to him, which advises him to let go of hate and learn to love, as the only way to realize his wish to become a detective. Dixon escapes with Angela's case file but suffers severe burns. Mildred's acquaintance James witnesses the incident and provides Mildred with an alibi, claiming they were on a date. Dixon is treated for his burns, and he is temporarily confined in the same hospital room as Welby, to whom he apologizes.

text: Discharged from the hospital, Dixon overhears the man who threatened Mildred bragging in a bar of an incident similar to Angela's murder. He notes the Idaho license plate number of the man's vehicle, then provokes a fight by scratching the man's face. At home later, he removes a sample of the man's DNA from under his fingernails. Meanwhile, Mildred goes on a date with James to thank him for the alibi. Charlie enters with his 19-year-old girlfriend Penelope and admits to burning the billboards while intoxicated. After accidentally causing James to leave, Mildred tells Charlie to treat Penelope well and leaves.

text: Though commending him, Abercrombie informs Dixon that the DNA sample does not match DNA found on Angela's body, and that the man was overseas on military duty at the time of the murder. Dixon concludes that the man must be guilty of some other rape, and joins Mildred on a trip to Idaho in order to kill him. On the way, Mildred confesses to Dixon that she set the police station on fire. He indicates that he knew already. They express reservations about their mission but agree to decide what to do along the way.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Frances McDormand as Mildred Hayes
Woody Harrelson as William 'Bill' Willoughby
Sam Rockwell as Jason Dixon
Abbie Cornish as Anne Willoughby
John Hawkes as Charlie Hayes
Peter Dinklage as James
Caleb Landry Jones as Red Welby
Kerry Condon as Pamela
Darrell Britt-Gibson as Jerome
Lucas Hedges as Robbie Hayes
Željko Ivanek as Desk Sergeant
Amanda Warren as Denise
Kathryn Newton as Angela Hayes
Samara Weaving as Penelope
Clarke Peters as Chief Abercrombie

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: While traveling through the Southern United States in around 1998, Martin McDonagh came across a couple of accusatory billboards about an unsolved crime, which he described as "raging and painful and tragic [sic]". The billboards highlighted the incompetence of police work and deeply affected McDonagh; he said that the image "stayed in my mind [...] kept gnawing at me" and presumed that they were put up by the victim's mother.[5][a] This incident, combined with his desire to create strong female characters, inspired him to write the story for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.[5] McDonagh discussed the creative process, saying that it took him about ten years to "[decide] that it was a mother who had taken these things out. It all became fiction [...] based on a couple of actual billboards".[7][8]

text: Casting and filming[edit]

text: The character of Mildred was written with Frances McDormand in mind, and likewise the character of Dixon was written specifically for Rockwell.[9] McDormand initially felt that she was older than the character as it was written, and suggested that Mildred instead be Angela's grandmother; McDonagh disagreed, feeling that it would change the story too much.[9][10] McDormand's husband Joel Coen persuaded her to take the part regardless.[9] McDormand took inspiration for her character from John Wayne; and Rockwell, wanting to make his character "the exact opposite" of Mildred, took inspiration for his character in part from Wayne's co-star in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Lee Marvin.[9]

text: Principal photography began on May 2, 2016, in Sylva, North Carolina,[11] and ran for 33 days.[12] Allison Outdoor Advertising of Sylva built the actual billboards, which were put in a pasture near Black Mountain, North Carolina because that location was better. Most of the time the billboards were covered because people in the area found them upsetting. David Penix of Arden, North Carolina bought the billboards and used the wood for a roof in Douglas Lake in Tennessee, though the messages are no longer in order.[13] Town Pump Tavern in Black Mountain, which had appeared in The World Made Straight, was used as a set and was closed for three days during filming. A pool table and booths were added. The bar's actual sign appeared in the movie.[14]

text: Music[edit]

text: The musical score was written by Carter Burwell, who had also supplied the score for McDonagh's films In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths. As well as Burwell's score, the film features songs by ABBA, Joan Baez, The Felice Brothers, the Four Tops, Monsters of Folk and Townes Van Zandt. [15]

text: Release[edit]

text: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri premiered in competition at the 74th Venice International Film Festival on September 4, 2017.[16] It also had screenings at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival,[17] the 2017 San Sebastián International Film Festival (where it won the Audience Award),[18] the BFI London Film Festival,[19] and the 2017 Zurich Film Festival.[20] It was also screened at the Mar del Plata International Film Festival.[21]

text: In the United States, the film was released, by Fox Searchlight Pictures, on November 10, 2017, beginning with a limited release, before "going wide" on December 1.[4] The film was released on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on February 27, 2018.[22] Six Shooter, McDonagh's Academy Award-winning short film, is included as a bonus.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri grossed $54.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $104.1 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $158.6 million.[4]

text: In its limited opening weekend, the film made $322,168 from four theaters for a per-theater average of $80,542, the fourth best of 2017.[23] The film made $1.1 million from 53 theaters in its second weekend and $4.4 million from 614 in its third, finishing a respective 9th and 10th at the box office.[24] In the weekend following its four Golden Globe wins the film was added to 712 theaters (for a total of 1,022) and grossed $2.3 million, and increase of 226% from the previous week's $706,188.[25] The weekend of January 27, 2018, following the announcement of the film's seven Oscar nominations, it made $3.6 million (an increase of 87% over the previous week's $1.9 million), finishing 13th.[26] The weekend of March 9–11, following its two Oscar wins, the film made $705,000, down 45% from the previous week's $1.3 million.[27]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2018)

text: On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 92% based on 317 reviews, and an average rating of 8.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri deftly balances black comedy against searing drama – and draws unforgettable performances from its veteran cast along the way."[28] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film had a weighted average score of 88 out of 100, based on 50 critics, indicating "universal acclaim."[29] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.[30]

text: Owen Gleiberman of Variety praised the film's performances, stating "It's Mildred's glowering refusal to back down that defines her, and McDormand brilliantly spotlights the conflicted humanity beneath the stony façade," and called Rockwell's performance a "revelation."[31] Steve Pond, writing for TheWrap, praised McDonagh's writing, calling it "Very funny, very violent and surprisingly moving."[32]

text: Some criticized the script for McDonagh's insincere or incorrect portrayal of small town America. The New York Times columnist Wesley Morris called McDonagh's portrayal of America a caricature: "a set of postcards from a Martian lured to America by a cable news ticker and by rumors of how easily flattered and provoked we are."[33] Tim Parks in The New Yorker praised the “magnificently photographed images” but wrote that the plot contained “a thousand cheap coincidences”. He concluded that the film is "empty of emotional intelligence" and "devoid of any remotely honest observation of the society it purports to serve." [34] In her review for The New York Times, Manohla Dargis wrote "[McDonagh's] jokes can be uninterestingly glib with tiny, bloodless pricks that are less about challenging the audience than about obscuring the material's clichés and overriding theatricality."[35]

text: The film was also controversial for its insensitive handling of racial themes, particularly surrounding the redemptive arc of Officer Dixon. In The Daily Beast, blogger Ira Madison III called the treatment of Rockwell's character "altogether offensive...McDonagh's attempts to script the black experience in America are often fumbling and backward and full of outdated tropes."[36] Alyssa Rosenberg noted in The Washington Post that "[Dixon's] redemption doesn’t merely defang his previous venomous bigotry; it softens Mildred’s character development."[37]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: At the 75th Golden Globe Awards, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri won for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Actress – Drama (McDormand), Best Supporting Actor (Rockwell), and Best Screenplay, and was nominated for Best Director and Best Original Score.[38] At the 71st British Academy Film Awards, it received nine nominations, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress in a Leading Role (McDormand), and Best Actor in a Supporting Role for both Rockwell and Harrelson.[39][40] It won five awards, including Best Film and Outstanding British Film (making it the only film along with The King's Speech to win both awards since the latter category was reintroduced in 1992)[41] while both McDormand and Rockwell won the Lead Actress and Supporting Actor awards respectively.[42] It was nominated for four awards at the 24th Screen Actors Guild Awards, winning three, including Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. At the 90th Academy Awards it received seven nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Frances McDormand, Best Original Screenplay for Martin McDonagh and two Best Supporting Actor nominations for both Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson. McDormand and Rockwell took home their respective awards.

text: It was named one of the top 10 films of the year by the American Film Institute.[43] At the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival,[17] the film won its top prize, the People's Choice Award.[44] At the 2017 San Sebastián International Film Festival, it won the Audience Award.[18]

text: Impact[edit]

text: On February 15, 2018, Justice4Grenfell, an advocacy group created in response to the Grenfell Tower fire, hired three vans with electronic screens in a protest against perceived inaction in response to the fire.[45] The vans were driven around London, and displayed messages in the style of the billboards in the film: '71 Dead', 'And Still No Arrests?', 'How Come?'[46]

text: In response to the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that took place on February 14, 2018, in Parkland, Florida, activist group Avaaz had three vans circle Florida senator Marco Rubio's offices displaying 'Slaughtered in School', 'And Still No Gun Control?', 'How Come, Marco Rubio?'[47][48]

text: On the night of February 15, 2018, the movement #OccupyJustice set up three billboards and a number of banners in Malta, marking the four-month anniversary of the murder of the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The billboards bore the text 'A Journalist Killed. No Justice.', 'A Country Robbed. No Justice.', and 'No Resignations. No Justice.'[49][50] The authorities removed the billboards the following day,[51] stating that they were illegal.[52] The government was criticized for this move,[53][54] and a day after their removal, activists laid down banners with similar text near Auberge de Castille, the Office of the Prime Minister.[52]

text: Outside the Bristol city centre on February 3, 2018, a mural was erected depicting three billboards reading 'Our NHS is dying', 'And still no more funding', and 'How come, Mrs May'. It was installed by the groups People’s Republic of Stokes Croft and Protect Our NHS in response to the alleged privatization of the National Health Service (NHS) and the death of a 15-year-old girl attributed by some to a purported lack of resources by the NHS.[55]

text: On February 22, 2018, the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations, protesting the inaction of the UN's role within the Syrian Civil War, set up three billboards outside the United Nations building in New York that read '500,000 Dead in Syria', 'And still no action?', and 'How come, Security Council'.[56][57]

text: On or around March 1, around the time of the 2018 Oscars, three billboards were taken out in Los Angeles, stating "WE ALL KNEW AND STILL NO ARRESTS", "AND THE OSCAR FOR BIGGEST PEDOPHILE GOES TO..." and "NAME NAMES ON STAGE OR SHUT THE HELL UP!", as an attempt to protest both the Oscars and the #MeToo movement.[58]

text: On March 8, on International Women's Day, three billboards were put in downtown Pristina, Kosovo,[59] to protest the death of two women as a result of domestic violence.[60]

text: Both McDormand and McDonagh have responded positively to the protests, with McDonagh saying "You couldn't ask for anything more than for an angry film to be adopted by protests,"[61][62] and McDormand saying she is “thrilled that activists all over the world have been inspired by the set decoration of the three billboards in Martin’s film.”[63]

text: On March 24, 2018, signs inspired by Three Billboards appeared at March for Our Lives gun safety rallies across the US and around the world.[64][65]

text: Explanatory notes[edit]

text: Jump up ^ The billboards were later found along the Interstate 10, and had been put by James Fulton, whose daughter Kathy Page was assaulted and killed in 1991.[6]