phosphorus pentoxide

[ pen-tok-sahyd, -sid ]

nounChemistry.
  1. a white, deliquescent, crystalline powder, P2O5, that, depending upon the amount of water it absorbs, forms orthophosphoric acid, metaphosphoric acid, or pyrophosphoric acid, produced by the burning of phosphorus in dry air: used in the preparation of phosphoric acids, as a drying and dehydrating agent, and in organic synthesis.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use phosphorus pentoxide in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for phosphorus pentoxide

phosphorus pentoxide

noun
  1. a white odourless solid produced when phosphorus burns: has a strong affinity for water with which it forms phosphoric acids. Formula: P 2 O 5 (commonly existing as the dimer P 4 O 10): Also called: phosphoric anhydride

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012