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Phosphorus is all about fire. White phosphorus (the dangerous form) literally glows in the dark because it's always reacting with the air around it (this glowing is where phosphorous got its name). Red phosphorus, which is exactly the same stuff just in a different crystalline form, is entirely stable and safe to keep around. The dramatic difference between red and white phosphorus is an extreme example of allotropes: different physical forms of the same element.
Phosphorus has a long and storied history. It was popular with alchemists who used its flammability to impress the gullible. It's been used in medicine, both good and bad. Whole books have been written about it (The 13th Element by John Emsley). It's used in kitchen matches.
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 Kitchen matches.
Boy, if these were chemicals the warnings on them would be a mile wide. Caution! Pyrophoric! May spontaneously ignite with friction! Wear appropriate protective gear when handling this substance! Never expose to heat or rough handling! Probably the second most dangerous element we have after cesium.
I remember years ago, I couldn't have been more than ten, making rockets out of matches and tin (aluminum) foil. You wrap the head of the match and about half way up the stick in several layers of foil, being sure to seal the part around the head well. Then you prop it head end down on some more foil and hold a lit match to the foil down where the head of the match is. After a few seconds the match inside the foil will light, and the gas generated will propel the match out of the foil barrel and several feet down the sidewalk.
I remember doing this mainly with cardboard matches such as you get in a matchbook, but I don't see why it wouldn't work with kitchen matches too. It works because the match head contains both a fuel and an oxidizer, so you don't need any air inside the foil for the match to burn.
Source: Grocery Store
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 12 June, 2002
Price: $2
Size: 2"
Purity: <20%
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Red Phosphorus powder.
Phosphorus comes in several allotropic forms. Red phosphorus is reasonably safe, and not likely to spontaneously explode or anything. Not so white phosphorus: That has to be kept under oil, or preferably not kept at all. It's the form that glows in the dark because of the spontaneous reaction with air on its surface. Funny how the crystal structure can make such a difference.
Click the source link for an interesting story about where this sample came from.
Source: Tryggvi Emilsson and Timothy Brumleve
Contributor: Tryggvi Emilsson and Timothy Brumleve
Acquired: 6 September, 2002
Price: Donated
Size: 0.75"
Purity: >99%
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Sample from the Everest Element Set.
Up until the early 1990's a company in Russia sold a periodic table collection with element samples. At some point their American distributor sold off the remaining stock to a man who is now selling them on eBay. The samples (excepted gasses) weight about 0.25 grams each, and the whole set comes in a very nice wooden box with a printed periodic table in the lid.
To learn more about the set you can visit my page about element collecting for a general description and information about how to buy one, or you can see photographs of all the samples from the set displayed on my website in a periodic table layout or with bigger pictures in numerical order.
Source: Rob Accurso
Contributor: Rob Accurso
Acquired: 7 February, 2003
Price: Donated
Size: 0.2"
Purity: >99%
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